Beauty and the Beast
by Silva Bramley
Summary: Ino and Kiba are stuck together on a mission to Takigakure, land of the waterfall, to guard a girl who is competeing to be in the Waterfall Festival. Will they fail their mission or form a relationship? KibaxIno
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yay, story! Please tell me whatcha think! And point out any typos ya see!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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Outside of the Konoha Ninja Academy, Kiba found a certain blonde Kunoichi swinging by herself. She wasn't swinging very high, and her face was pointing down towards the ground. She stopped pumping with her legs and slowly came to a stop, and Kiba wasn't sure, but he thought that he'd seen a few tears hit the ground. He walked towards her, with Akamaru at his heels.

"Ino...?" Kiba said, his voice quiet. Ino's body stiffened. What was dog boy doing here? She ignored him, hoping that he'd go away if she did. She didn't want to fight with him right now, she wasn't in the mood. "What are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked. Ino sighed, here comes the fight.

"Well, I was enjoying the quiet, but I guess that's over!" Ino said. She covered up her sadness with anger, there was no way that she'd let him see her cry. Ninja weren't supposed to cry. For a minute Kiba seemed to look surprised and hurt, Ino noted, but then he growled.

"Fine! I don't care why you're here anyway! The important thing is that I found you," Kiba yelled. Now it was Ino's turn to look surprised. Why was Kiba looking for her? They didn't know each very well and rarely were around each other, and when they were, they usually fought.

"Why were you looking for me?" Ino asked him, confused.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see us," Kiba said. He turned around and began walking away, heading towards the Hokage Place. Ino sighed and followed him. Kiba had been looking all over for her, and her she was, not too far away from the place he'd started the search. They walked into the Hokage's Place and then entered Tsunade-sama's office. The blonde hokage looked up at them as they entered.

"Good, your here," She said in a business-like tone. "I have a mission for you two." Kiba and Ino both groaned, they were going to be stuck on a mission together. Tsunade chose to ignore their groans and plowed on. "You two will be traveling to Takigakure, in the Land of the Water Fall. Joushi has requested body guards for his daughter, Odori. Odori is competing in a dancing competition. Whoever wins the competition gets the special honor of dancing lead in the Waterfall Fesitval. Odori and another girl Shisshi are the favorites to win. Netamashii is Shisshi's father and Joushi is worried that he might be planning to kill Odori. So that's where you two come in."

"When do we leave?" Ino asked, sitting forward in her chair.

"Tonight, as soon as possible," Tsunade-sama said. Ino's eyes widened in shock, and Kiba couldn't help but laugh. Ino turned and shot him a dirty look before looking back at the hokage.

"Tonight?" She asked in an almost whiney voice. She didn't want to leave tonight, she was too sad and hurt.

"I believe that is what I said," Tsunade said, "Now move along, you need to arrive in Takigakure soon. The closer it gets to the competition, the more danger Odori is in." The hokage waved her hands, dismissing them from her office. Ino and Kiba stood up to leave. When they were outside of the Hokage Place, Kiba turned to her.

"Go pack your stuff, I'll carry the tent, some ration bars, and my clothes. Make sure you bring some ration bars too, and maybe some spices if we choose to eat something fresh or cook," Kiba said. He paused and thought for a few minutes. "Oh-, and make sure you bring some medical things. And your clothes too, we wouldn't want you to forget those."

"Why can't I bring my tent too?" Ino asked. When she went on missions with Shikamaru and Chouji, they all brought their own individual tents. Kiba laughed.

"My tent can hold up to six people, I always bring it for missions and we all sleep in it together. So if there was to be an attack, we would all be together in one spot. That eliminates some confusion. Also, it saves on room. If we only have one tent, we can carry other stuff with us," Kiba answered. Ino glared at him, but he was right.

"Fine, whatever!" She said, upset that he was right. Kiba smiled that cocky grin of his.

"Ok, lets meet at the gates in an hour," He said. Ino put her hands on her hips and glared at him again.

"Who died and made you boss?" She asked, angry that he was bossing her around.

"Heh, no one died. I'm just a natural born leader!" He replied. Ino smiled and leaned forward.

"Then why is Shino always bossing you around?" She asked quietly and then walked away. "Fine, I'll meet you in an hour," She called back at him as she walked down the road to her house. Kiba watched her walk away with his fists clenched. He couldn't believe he was stuck on a mission with her. He sighed again and walked to his own home, in the opposite direction. Akamaru looked at Ino getting smaller off in the distance before running after Kiba.

Ino turned around and saw Kiba sulking off to his house. She sighed again, this was going to be a long mission. It was only a few minutes after Tsunade-sama dismissed them, and they already were fighting. Why had Tsunade-sama paired them up. She could have put her with Chouji. But he was already on an important mission. She went through all the possibilities of who should could have gotten paired up with, but it seemed they were the only ones able to go on the mission. She pushed open the door to her house and went to her room, she only had an hour to pack and meet Kiba at the gates.

Kiba walked to his house in silence, he was in a bad mood now. Ino always put him in a bad mood. Akamaru looked up and whined, he noticed his owner's bad mood. Kiba bent down and scratched his dog under the chin, reassuring him that everything was ok. He scooped the dog up and placed him in his jacket, the dog barked and snuggled into the warm fabric of the jacket. Kiba smiled and resumed walking to his house, as long as he had Akamaru, he could put up with that bitch Ino.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Not much to say. Still tell me what you think and bring typos to my attention.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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Ino rummaged through her drawers, searching through her clothes. She had already chosen her outfits for the misson, they were her usual purple mission clothes. Now she was just choosing her outfit for the Waterfall Festival. She wanted to look nice and attract attention from the boys there. During the festival she could ditch Kiba and meet some cute guys. She smiled at the thought, by then Odori would be safe, so she'd be able to enjoy the festival. 

She finally chose a white top with a 'v' cut, it had a black strip running across it, diagonally. She matched it with short black skirt and some comfortable black shoes. She was sure that she'd look super cute and youthfull in the outfit and she grinned again. She then packed some small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. On top of the bottles she placed some pajamas. She pushed these things into her pack neatly, then walked down to the kitchen.

She went through the cupboards and found a box of ration bars. She dumped the whole box into her pack and then set about searching for some spices. If there was going to be any cooking, it wouldn't be done by her, she didn't cook. She tried to pick out sensible spices, ones she'd seen her own mother use the most when cooking. Maybe when she got back from this mission, she'd ask her mother to show her a few things about cooking. Afterwards, she headed into the living room and pulled a box from off the shelf.

Inside of the box were all sorts of medical things. She pulled out bandages, pills to stop infection, and anything else that looked helpful and needed. By the time she had everything packed, her bag was full. She hefted it up and put it on her back, it wasn't that heavy. She was used to having her tent tied to the bottom of the pack.

Before leaving she scribbled a note on a piece of paper and left it on the kitchen table. She locked the door and shut it behind her, heading down the road towards the gates.

Kiba grabbed some clothes and put them at the bottom of his pack, before putting in some ration bars on top of that. He walked around his house and grabbed other things he might need and stuffed them in his pack. He walked outdoors and grabbed the tent, it'd been drying from the last mission. It had taken him a couple days to get the blood stains out of it, and the smell of blood bothered him while he was trying to sleep. He attatched it to his bag and walked back into the house. It never took him very long to get ready for a mission, he was always ready for them.

He glanced out the window, it was already dark, but it hadn't been dark for too long. Only for about three or so hours. When they met at the gates, they could travel for a few hours before setting up camp. He groaned, he remembered Shikamaru telling him about how he and Chouji always have to save Ino. He didn't want to have to save her, it would slow them down and put Odori in more danger. If Ino knew what was good for her, she'd listen to what he said.

"Come on, Akamaru. We should head out to the gates," Kiba said, Akamaru answering with a bark. They set down the path towards the gates.

When they arrived at the gates, Ino still wasn't there. She lived closer to the gates then he did and he expected her to be there already, but to his disapointment, she wasn't. He leaned against the gates, impatiently waiting for the blonde who seemed to be taking her sweet time. When he heard footsteps he looked up to see Ino walking down the path at a slow pace. When she finally reached the gates Kiba glared at her.

"What!?" She asked, noticing that he was glaring at her.

"What took you so long?" He asked. She sighed and smiled.

"You said I had an hour to meet you here, I am actually a few minutes early. So calm down, dog boy," She said coming to stand in front of him. Kiba growled and clenched his fists again.

"Well, whatever! For this mission it would be best for you to be quiet and listen to what I say. I don't want to go around playing hero for you," He said, struggling to keep his voice under control. Ino's face turned red and she raised her fist, stepping forward. She grabbed his jacket collar and pulled Kiba close to her, their faces were mere inches from each others'.

"Damn it Inuzuka! You will not be playing hero for me! I don't need you, and I don't need you bossing me around. What do you take me for? A complete idiot? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not an idiot. In fact, I believe that you are the one who is the idiot so maybe you should listen to me!" She raged in his face. Even though Ino was yelling in his face, Kiba had to struggle not to blush. This was the closest to Ino he'd ever been and his sense of smell was overwhelmed by her sweet flowery smell.

Kiba shook his head, and pushed her hand aside. "You don't need me!? We'll see about that when you need your little dumbass saved!" He retorted. "Let's get going, you may not care, but there's someone counting on us! We need to hurry up and get there to protect Odori!" He turned around and walked out of the gates, Akamaru hesitated and then ran after him.

Ino punched the side of the gate in anger, leaving a large dent in the side of the gate. Why did dog boy piss her off so much? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "One...two...three...four...five," she counted inside her head and she felt calmness returning to her. Taking another deep breath, she ran after Kiba.

When Ino appeared at his side he didn't even look at her. He was churning with anger on the inside, yet when she'd gotten close to him, he had forgotten for a minute that they were fighting. When he had taken in her scent he wanted to kiss her. He could still pick up her smell, but it wasn't as strong when she standing beside him instead of inches from his face. She smelled like flowers, which wasn't surprising since she worked in a flower shop. He quickened his pace and after a few moments he was ahead of her again, a couple branches in front of her.

Ino rolled her eyes and quickened her pace as well, catching up with him again. Kiba was so immature.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alrighty, I got chapter 3 up! Yay for InoxKiba!! And thanks for the review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but that would be awesome if I did.**

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Ino and Kiba ran up in the trees in an uncomfortable silence. They hadn't fought since they left the gates, but then again, they hadn't said anything to each other. They had been running for a few hours and Ino was getting tired. It was late and they had to wake up when the sun rose. Ino was relieved when Kiba stopped, she didn't want to be the person to stop, for fear that Kiba would make another comment on her honor. 

"I think we should make camp now," Kiba said and Ino nodded. Kiba started setting up the tent while Ino dug into her pack. She pulled out a pair of pajamas and watched Kiba finish putting up the tent. She walked into the tent and when Kiba went to follow, Ino pushed him back out. "What the hel-" He demanded but Ino cut across him.

"I'm changing! Stay out!" She said. Kiba grumbled but backed up. He sat with his back to the tent, mumbling under his breath. While Ino changed into a white shirt and purple capri. She put the clothes that she had taken off into the bag. Afterwards she stuck her head out of the tent. "Ok, Kiba. I'm done," She said.

Kiba stood up and came into the tent. As soon as he stepped inside of it, he started to take off his jacket. "Wait a minute!" Ino said quickly and Kiba stopped and looked at Ino. "If you're changing, then I'll get out of here until your done," She said. Kiba laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not changing, just taking a few things off," He said and took off his jacket. He was wearing a fishnet shirt similiar to Shikamaru's, with a wooden slate over it, held around his body by rope. He took the wooden shield off and placed it by his pack with his jacket. Ino tried not to stare at his well defined abs, but it was hard not to. "Are you enjoying it?" He asked her, the cocky grin returning again. Ino turned and looked away.

"I don't know what your talking about," She said, laying down her sleeping bag. He laid his next to hers as she sat down. She ran her hand along the blanket and thought about Shikamaru. Kiba noticed the change in Ino and looked at her concerned. Why did she get so sad all of a sudden. Was it something he had said? "Well, lets go to bed," She said, climbing into her sleeping bag.

"Ino...?," Kiba asked, his voice soft. Ino didn't turn to look at him, facing in the opposite direction with her back to him.

"What?" She asked. Kiba wasn't sure how to go on, but he decided to just wing it.

"Uhm, Are you ok?" He asked her. She turned and looked at him. He looked sincere and it was very endearing and sweet. Ino had always thought he looked cute, but his personality usually irritated her. But right at this moment he seemed to be willing to try to help and maybe understand. She almost told him why she was hurting, but she changed her mind. She didn't want to confide her feelings in dog boy, she didn't want him to bring it up in a fight as a tool against her.

"I'm fine," She said. Kiba didn't believe her.

"Was it something I said?" He asked. Ino shook her head.

"No, it has nothing to do with you," She answered.

"Is it...Sasuke? Are you still upset because he left?" Kiba asked, afraid of her reaction. Ino sat up, still looking at him but now she was smiling.

"No, it's not Sasuke," She said, patting him on the hand. "But thanks for trying to help," She said. Kiba was a little nervous, Ino was acting wierd. He nodded and climbed into his own sleeping bag.

"Ok...then...Good night...," Kiba said. He was afraid Ino might snap and go crazy. Ino nodded and turned around again, her back was facing him again. He laid back against the pillow and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. He looked over at Ino again and noticed that her shoulders were shaking. It took him a few moments to realize that she was crying, just not out loud. He wanted to reach out his hand and comfort her, but he didn't think she would want him to know that she was crying.

Ino tried to stop crying, but she couldn't. She tried to stop shaking, but she couldn't. He had hurt her so bad. Not Sasuke, but Shikamaru. Sasuke was just her childhood crush, and nothing more. Shikamaru though, she'd gotten so close to him. She had even thought that they were going to get married. When Sasuke left, though, Shikamaru had ran into Temari again and she had saved his life.

Ever since then, Shikamaru had talked about her non-stop. It made Ino jealous, but she thought that he was just crushing on her like Ino herself had crushed on Sasuke. And maybe if she told him that she loved him, that he'd forget about her. But it hadn't worked out that way. She wished it had, but it hadn't.

"Kiba?" Ino asked, her voice sounded strangely loud in the quiet darkness.

"Yea?" Came his voice from behind her. She turned around again, and Kiba was looking at her. He seemed curious and concerned at the same time.

"Will...will..," She said. She took a deep, steadying breath. "Will you hug me?" She asked. Kiba looked shocked for a moment but then nodded, leaning forward. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her body and enclose her in a warm embrace. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She could feel his skin on her face, through the fishnet, it was soft and warm.

Kiba held Ino close to him, her head was on his chest. He was once again overwhelmed by her flowery scent. Her breath was soft against his skin and sent tingles accross his chest. When she stayed there for so long, he thought she might have fallen asleep.

Ino opened her eyes and pulled away. She didn't want to, she felt like she belonged there. But she had remembered that this was Kiba and she didn't want to complicate things between them. She smiled at him, and he returned the smile slowly. "Thank you, Kiba," She said before laying back down and then drifting off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Here's Chapter Four! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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Kiba woke up to a tickley sensation on his nose, opening his eyes, he realized it was Ino's hair. He pushed it out of his face and was surprised at the softness of it. It was like golden silk, soft and bright. He felt Ino stir and looked at her. She had a panicked look on her face for a few moments before she relaxed. This caused Kiba to laugh and then get a dirty look from Ino. 

When Ino had woken up, she didn't know where she was. It wasn't her room, or her tent. After a few moments she remembered that she was sleeping in Kiba's tent and the details on the mission came back to her. When Kiba laughed, Ino felt embarressed, but covered it up with a dirty look. She sat up and climbed out of her sleeping bag, while Kiba climbed out of his.

"Well, we should probably get going," Ino said as they rolled up their sleeping bags. Kiba nodded and stood up. He headed towards the flap of the tent but Ino grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I was leaving so you could change, but if you don't want me to leave...," He said, a cocky grin on his face. Ino blushed and let go of his arm.

"I didn't know you were leaving so I could change. If you are, then get out," She said. Kiba laughed and left the tent. Ino changed into another pair of mission clothes and put the clothes she had worn to bed into her pack. She stepped out of the tent and Kiba turned to look at her.

"Ok, my turn to change," He said as he walked into the tent. Ino sat down outside the tent and scratched Akamaru under the chin, while she thought about Kiba's strong arms holding her close. She smiled dreamily. "Are you ok?" Kiba asked and Ino jumped. She almost blushed, she had just been thinking about Kiba and felt like she was caught in the act. But then again, how could he know that she was thinking about him?

"I'm fine, of course," Ino said. Ino pulled out two ration bars, handing one to Kiba and keeping one for herself. "What does Akamaru eat?" Ino asked, wondering if she should pull out a ration bar for the dog too.

"I feed him this," He said, holding up a bag he had pulled from his pack. He poured some of the bag on the ground and Akamaru ate it happily. After putting the bag back in his pack, he ate his ration bar in three large bites. Already done with his ration bar, he began to take down the tent. So Ino watched him take the tent down while munching on her own ration bar.

Kiba finished packing the tent around the same time that Ino finished her ration bar. She stood up and swung her pack onto her back and Kiba did the same thing. "If we leave now and don't stop until around nine, then we will probably reach Takigakure around lunch time tomarrow," Kiba said, and Ino nodded. "Akamaru! Lead the way!" Kiba said and Akamaru barked in reply before bounding off. Ino and Kiba ran after him.

They ran at a steady but fast pace. They wanted to get as far as they could before they stopped that night. Every minute they took to get there, was another minute that Odori was in danger. They stopped for a few minutes, to quickly eat a ration bar for lunch before resuming their fast paced travel to the Land of the Waterfall.

They didn't talk much and Ino was suffering. She felt the urge to talk, but she felt that she would only be annoying Kiba if she attempted some small talk, and she didn't want a fight. Right now, silence was better than fighting. It didn't help that every few minutes Ino thought about being in Kiba's arms again, and she wondered if she'd be able to snag a hug out of him again. But she wasn't sure how to without him thinking that she liked him.

Little did Ino know, but Kiba was thinking along the same lines. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and stroke that beautiful hair. He kept thinking back to the hug they had shared last night, but that had probably been a one time thing. Ino had needed the hug for comfort, not anything else.

Their shadows grew longer as the sun began to disappear below the horizen. Ino was tired from running fast all day, and she suspected that Kiba was a little weary as well. "Kiba, maybe we should stop her-" Ino began but was interupted by Kiba.

"No, we should keep going on. Odori is waiting, and the longer it takes us, the more danger she is in," Kiba said. Ino clenched her fists and turned to look at him while they ran.

"Well, I know that, but what use is it if we're tired out of our minds?" Ino asked back, trying to be logical.

"I'm not tired, I could keep going for a long time. But if you are so tired, then you can stop here while I go on ahead. I'm sure at this rate you could get there after the waterfall festival is over," Kiba said, focusing ahead.

"Oh for the love of-" Ino shouted, exasperated. How could Kiba be so thick minded? "It is almost nine and you said that if we ran until nine that we would make it there by lunch time tomarrow. The dancing competition doesn't start for two more days!" Ino said.

"Oh, I see. You don't mind arriving last minute for everything. How can you be so selfish when there is other people counting on you?" He shouted back. They had stopped and were facing each other on the branch. Akamaru stood on a branch ahead of them, whining.

"Selfish? I'm not being selfish! I'm being reasonable! We can't run all night and then expect to be in good condition to guard the girl. If we arrive tomarrow, we should be there in enough time to keep her protected," Ino said, lowering her voice. Kiba shook his head.

"Fine, I'll set up camp," Kiba said, jumping down to the ground. Ino followed after him, and when she landed softly on the ground, he already had the tent out and was putting it up. She sulked a bit while he put it up, he had treated her like a burden and she hadn't appreciated it.

She changed into another pair of sleep wear while Kiba waited outside of the tent. When he came in, he only took off his jacket and the wooden thing, like he did last night. They both laid down, like last night. Ino rolled over on her side and pouted. So much for snagging another hug from Kiba.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everyone, Thanks for the love. Here's yet another Chapter. Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto, and I have to admit that it bums me out a little bit.**

**Dedicatioin: I dedicate this chapter to my bestest friend! (Narutardedbandgeek)**

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"Ino...are you awake?" Kiba asked, sitting up in his sleeping bag. She yawned and sat up as well. 

"Yah, I'm awake," She said tiredly.

"Well, I'm sorry for...for," He said letting his voice trail off. Ino smiled weakly and nodded her head.

"It's ok," Ino said. "We should probably be heading out soon though. We want to get there as soon as possible," She added, while rolling her sleeping bag up. The morning went much like the one before. They each ate a ration bar and Kiba packed the tent up after feeding Akamaru.

"Alright! Let's go!" Kiba called out, Akamaru leading the way again. They ran at a fast pace again, in silence again.

"There it is!" Ino said, pointing threw the branches to Takigakure. Kiba nodded and they reached it in a few moments. Kiba had been right, they had arrived around lunch time. They walked into the village and there was a lot of people milling in the streets. Ino kept close to Kiba, afraid to get seperated from him in the crowd.

"Do you know where we can find Joushi?" Kiba asked somebody standing on the street. The man pointed his hand and gave them directions. Kiba grabbed Ino's hand and pulled her threw the crowd after him. Ino smiled and didn't pull her hand out of his grasp. When the arrived at the house, Kiba let go of her hand and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" A man wearing all black answered the door.

"We're here to see Joushi," Ino said and the man nodded his head. He stepped back and allowed them to enter the house. They stepped in and were lead into a room that had silver walls and a soft white carpet. They sat down on the two pillows that were sitting in front of the table.

"Joushi will be here in a few moments with his daughter. Until then, make yourselves at home," The man said before bowing and leaving them alone.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Ino said, looking around at the elaborate designs on the silver wall. Kiba nodded and looked around the room. They both turned when they heard the door opening again. In walked a tall man and a girl who looked around the same age as Kiba and herself. The girl was really pretty and had the lean body of a dancer.

Ino glanced over at Kiba and saw the dreamy look on his face. She frowned and elbowed him in the ribs. He looked startled but didn't say anything to Ino. Joushi and his daughter sat down on the other side of the table.

"Hello, I'm Joushi and this is my lovely daughter, Odori. You two are the ninja I requested to protect her, yes?" The tall man asked, getting straight to business. Ino nodded.

"Yes, we are. I'm Ino and this is Kiba," Ino said, introducing her and Kiba. Akamaru barked and Ino added, "And this is Akamaru. He's Kiba's nindog."

"It's nice to met you two, er, I mean three," Joushi said. Odori smiled and nodded. "Anyway, I believe that your Hokage told you the details of the mission, right?" Ino and Kiba nodded. "That's good, that makes it easier. Since you are to guard my Odori, you guys may stay here in this house. And I would ask you guys to accompany her everytime she leaves the house," Joushi said.

"We'd be glad too, that's why we are here after all. Odori, do you practice your dancing here in the house, or do you go somewhere else? We need to know all the places that you go to," Ino said. Odori smiled again and nodded, and Ino looked puzzled. Joushi laughed.

"Odori is mute, she can't talk," He said. Ino's eyes widened in shock.

"She can't talk?" Ino asked in disbelief. Odori nodded again, still smiling. "I feel bad for you, how can you survive without talking?" Ino asked, looking dumbfounded. Kiba laughed.

"Ino would die if she couldn't talk," Kiba joked. Ino didn't glare at him like he expected her too.

"I would," Ino answered weakly.

"Well, to answer those questions you asked a few minutes ago, Odori practices her dancing her in the house. She practices alot, and since she is in danger she probably shouldn't leave the house that much. Tomarrow she has to meet at the place the competition is being held with the other contestants. That's where they will get a schedule for the competition and their dancing order," Joushi informed them. Ino nodded and Joushi clapped his hands.

"Yes?" The man who had answered the door stepped into the room.

"Please show our guests to their rooms," Joushi said, "After you two finish unpacking, I will give you two a small break. You must be tired after that long journey here. I will send someone for you in an hour or so."

"Very well, follow me," The man said. Ino and Kiba stood up and followed the man to their rooms. He lead them down a long hallway and stopped towards the end of it. He pointed to the white door at the very end of the hallway. "That's Odori's room," He said. Then he pointed to a door on the left side of the hallway, close to Odori's room. "You can stay there," The man said to Ino. He pointed again, to the right side of the hallway, opposite of the door he's just pointed at. "That's where you can stay," He said to Kiba.

"Thank you, very much," Ino said. The man bowed and left them in the hallway.

"Ok, unpack your things and then come back out here," Kiba said putting a hand on his door knob.

"Wait a minute, Kiba. I think your forgetting something. You're not the boss of me, remember? So instead, you're going to unpack, and I'm going to unpack. Since you'll probably finish before I do, then you can knock on my door. Then I'll let you in and maybe you could help me finish unpacking. That makes more sense to me," Ino said, smiling at Kiba. He growled and turned back to face her. "It does make sense, doesn't it? You will finish unpacking before I do," She said.

"I guess you're right this time," He said, sighing and giving in.

"I think you mean everytime," She said. He leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I think your pushing it," Kiba said. Ino laughed and pushed his hand off her shoulder.

"I don't think so," She said, "You better start unpacking. We need to get finished so we can enjoy our break and be ready when Joushi sends for us."

"Fine, I'll be over in a few moments. But don't think for a second that you are my boss," He said, going into his room. Ino smiled before going into her room.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in the update, but blame school! They've been giving me tons of homework! Thanks for the reviews everybody!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but it'd be awesome if I did.**

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Kiba sat back and watched as Ino finished up packing her things. Her room was a basic mirror image of his own room. There was a plain, nondescript dresser in a corner of the room. Next to the dresser was a full length mirror and a small armchair. There wasn't much in the room besides that and the big sized bed opposite of the dresser. 

Ino was packing, facing away from him. She smiled and turned around. "Well, that's the last of it," She said walking towards the bed. Kiba was sitting on the bed, his legs crossed, leaning against the footboard. Ino sat down on the opposite side of the bed, next to the headboard and sighed.

"Maybe you shouldn't bring that many stuff on missions," Kiba teased lightly. She laughed and shook her head.

"Then I wouldn't be a girl, would I?" She asked, amused with herself. She tucked back her blonde bangs and looked down at her fingernails. "We should talk about some plans for our mission," She said, not looking up. Kiba nodded, even though she wasn't looking at him.

"That sounds like a good idea," He answered, "When she is traveling from her to the dance competition, that would be a time that they would target her. Also, when she is wondering outside of the house, even for small things like to get some fresh air. We need to be there everytime she is out."

"When she is going to the dance competition, I could do the Mind Transfer Jutsu. That way if there was any trouble, I could control her movements and help her to safety," Ino said, looking up now.

"Wouldn't that mean that you would be out of your body?" Kiba asked. He'd seen her use the technique in the chuunin exams, but he wasn't sure what the technique was exactly.

"Yah, someone would have to watch my body and keep it safe. That leads to the question, would we bring my body with us or would we leave it here in the mansion?" Ino asked. Kiba thought for a few minutes before answering.

"Well, if we leave you here, if there was a problem all you would be able to do is bring Odori to saftey and then return to your body here. On the other hand, if we brought your body with. Then you could get Odori out of immediate danger and return to your body and help fight to protect her," Kiba said, thoughtfully.

"How are we going to carry my body and keep it concealed? We can't let people see my body, they would ask questions, and it's not like we Yamanka's keep our techniques secret. I'm sure that if there were to be an ambush and they saw my body they would know that I had taken over Odori," Ino said.

"I could carry you in a pack, you know, something similiar to how Kankuro carries his puppet?" Kiba suggusted, and added, "That could be uncomfortable to you, and if there was a problem then you would have to get out of the pack to attack." Ino stared at him for a few moments, thinking. Then she snapped her fingers.

"That's a good idea, Kiba. If we run into any trouble you can just let me out of the pack and I'll return to my body. If I'm not in the body it wouldn't matter if it was uncomfortable. You'd just have to be careful not to injure my body or anything," She said excitedly.

"Alright, that's one thing solved. We need to find something to use for a pack," He said looking around the room. Ino waved a hand casually.

"We could ask the door man or whoever comes to find us for a pack. I'm sure Joushi would understand, we can explain it to him," She answered. Kiba looked at Ino with a smile on his face. She gave him a curious look.

"What?" She asked. Kiba laughed.

"It's just going to be funny watching you adjust to no talking," Kiba answered. Ino's face grew worried.

"Oh! I forgot Odori couldn't talk! What am I going to do then?" Ino asked.

"It's not a long walk, you can survive without talking," Kiba said, laughing still.

"No, you don't get it. We'll have to develop some signals. Like if I see anything suspicious or if there's trouble," She said and Kiba stopped laughing.

"Yah, I see your point. They would have to be subtle too," Kiba said. They were both quiet as they thought of some signals they could use that wouldn't be overly obvious.

"If there's trouble I could scratch my head right here," She demonstrated scratching in the middle of the back of her head. "And if there's anything suspicious I could scratch my shoulder like this," She said scratching her shoulder.

"We'll have to have a signal for a false alarm, too," Kiba said thoughtfully. "Maybe you can scratch your ass, maybe even wiggle it around for me," Kiba answered, smirking.

"You are perverted!" Ino said, shaking her head.

"Girls like you make me that way!" He said, raising his hands in defense. Ino looked surprised, but pleased, and Kiba searched his words to see what other meaning she got from them. He groaned, he'd said girls like you.

Ino leaned forward and put her hand over his heart, smiling as the beat quickened. She pushed him backwards on the bed, making him lay on his back. His heart raced even faster when Ino leaned over him and close to his face. She was still smiling and he thought she might kiss him. But instead she turned and brought her mouth next to his ear.

"That's no excuse, the other boys in the village manage just fine around girls like me," She said in his ear before leaning back. She removed her hand from over his heart. "You better get that heart beat checked out," She said with a wink and he sat up.

"That was mean!" Kiba said, pouting like a little kid and Ino laughed.

"What?" Ino asked. "Did you want me to kiss you?" Kiba went to answer but there was a knock on the door. They both jumped up and laughed lightly at themselves for jumping. "Come in," Ino said and the man who had greeted them when they first came to the house opened the door.

"I was wondering where you were, I had come to your room first," He said looking at Kiba.

"Well, we were making some plans to keep Odori protected," Kiba answered. The man nodded and motioned for them to follow him. They stood up and followed him out of the room. As they left the room, Kiba caught Ino's eye and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "You know, when I said shake your ass for me a little bit, it wouldn't be your body. It'd be Odori's body, so I don't see why you got so pleased," He teased.

Ino's smiled faded and she punched him hard in the arm. They walked the rest of the way in silence, Ino glowering and Kiba rubbing his arm.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I dunno, this chapter took me all week. But that's mostly because homework is killing me. I wonder who the mysterious girl is...just kidding. I know who, but you doooon't. haha. Anyway, I am not sure if I like this chapter. And as for the whole servant part, I had to name him.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Why do I get sad everytime I say that?**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to two of my friends. One certain friend with curly brown hair and super intelligence. While the other one has crazy fire hair, and he's outta state. If that isn't you, too bad.**

* * *

"Uhm, Sir, could I ask you what your name is...," Ino asked, walking faster so she could come to stand next to the man leading them down the hallway. The man looked at her and smiled. 

"My name is Dorei, little lady. What's your name?" The servent answered.

"Ino," She replied shortly. He lead them back to the room with white carpet and silver walls. Dorei knocked on the door and they waited until they heard a muffled, "Come in". Ino turned and looked at Kiba before walking in the door she smiled and shook her butt a little bit as she walked in the door. Kiba struggled not to smile or give her anything to be satisfied about as they walked in.

Ino frowned and then looked over at Joushi who was sitting behind the desk. Odori was sitting over by the window looking out of it. Joushi waved at them to sit down on the pillows seated before the desk. They did as they were told, and Ino struggled not to pout or look at Kiba. Kiba was making her mad, she couldn't figure him out.

"You two had a nice break, yes?" Joushi asked, his hands clasped together in front of his face. Ino forced a smile and nodded. "That's good. Odori, come over here," Joushi said. Odori stood up and gracefully walked over to the desk. "I imagine that you are hungry, yes?" He asked. Kiba was quick to nod and Ino laughed. "You wouldn't object to taking my Odori out to eat, no?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. They both shook their heads no. "Then it's settled. You three will go out to eat," He said, waving his hands to dismiss them.

They stood up and bowed their heads. Ino beckoned for Odori to join them, before turning to follow Kiba out the door. Dorei lead them out to the main door and Ino thanked him before they left to eat. Kiba walked next to Odori and kept looking at her and smiling. She smiled back at him, and they were walking very close. Ino was walking behind them and she crossed her arms in over her chest.

Kiba thought Odori was pretty but it was annoying that she couldn't talk. He looked back at Ino and saw that she looked peeved and he grinned. Kiba knew it was wrong to use Odori, but he like making Ino jealous. He cringed. Making Ino jealous? That was only admitting that he liked her. But he didn't. He just like to see her squirm, he reassured himself. He stopped walking realizing that Odori had stopped and was standing a few paces behind him.

He turned to look back at her and saw that she looked angry. What had he done? He was confused. "What?" He demanded, a little more harsh than he had intended. Ino was now standing next to Odori and staring at Kiba. She automatically assumed that he had done something perverted and upset Odori.

"Come on, Odori. Let's go. Kiba can eat lunch by himself," She said pulling Odori in the opposite direction of Kiba. As they walked away Ino turned back to Kiba and mouthed 'pig' at him. Kiba watched them leave, shocked and bewildered.

"You shouldn't just stand there in the middle of the street," A soft voice said behind him. He turned and saw another pretty girl. She had the same lean and athletic body as Odori.

"I can stand in the middle of the street if I want to," He said. The girl laughed and he found he liked her laugh. But something was wrong about her, something he couldn't put his finger on. It was just out of his reach.

"Well, are you going to keep standing there? Or come and eat lunch with me?" She asked, bringing Kiba out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked. Even more confused. Odori and Ino were mad at him for some odd reason and now a girl was telling him that he was going to eat lunch with her.

"Well, I have no one to eat lunch with and it's not really proper for a young lady to be out on her own. I could get hurt if I didn't have a strong shinobi to protect me," She said as she stepped closer to him. She reached up and ran a finger accross his forehead protector, then down the side of his cheek. The girl was pretty, but he didn't get tingles for her touch like he did Ino. His body stiffened. He had only imagined the tingles, right? He didn't really like Ino. She was annoying and selfish.

"Of couse I'll take you to lunch," He found himself answering. Trying to prove to himself that he didn't like Ino. The girl smiled triumphantly and latched herself to his arm.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked him. They started walking and he remembered that he had no idea where any good resturants were.

"Wherever you want to. Why don't you pick?" He suggusted. She laughed again.

"Not only strong, but kind," She cooed. Kiba felt his ego grow even more. When he was around Ino, sometimes he felt that his ego was deflated, but this girl fed his ego, and he liked the feeling. -  
Ino and Odori sat down at a booth. The waitress brought them two menus and two glasses of water. Ino thanked her and looked at the menu.

"What do you want?" Ino asked, figuring that Odori would point to what she wanted on the menu. Instead Odori imitated writing on a piece of paper with her hands. Ino nodded. "Can we have a paper and something to write with?" Ino asked when she had caught attention of a waitress. The waitress nodded and brought back a pad and pen.

Ino handed them over to Odori and she began writing. She held up the paper to Ino and it said, "Do you like Kiba?". Ino eyes widened and she hesitated. Did she like Kiba? Noo, she didn't like Kiba. He was loud and annoying. She didn't like him, they had just spent a couple days together and Shikamaru had just broken her heart.

"No, I don't like Kiba," Ino answered. Odori smiled and began scribbling down something else. She held up the pad again it now said, "Kiba was using me to make you jealous". Ino gasped. That's why Odori had been upset! How insensitive Kiba was!

"He told you that?" Ino asked, amazed. Odori had a wierd look on her face when she held up the pad again. "Not exactly" It said.

"Then how did you find out?" Ino asked, confused. Odori just looked down at the pad and picked up her pen to write something when the waitress came back.

"Can I take your orders?" She asked kindly, and Odori was happy for the interruption. She held up the pad with her order. The waitress nodded and copied the order down on her waitress's pad. Then she took Ino's order.

Ino watched Odori, still confused. She decided she would ask her later about it. Just wait until she got a hold of Kiba. Some of her was furious at Kiba for using somebody. But the other half wondered why Kiba wanted to make her jealous, did Kiba like her? The question made her feel all warm inside, but she shook off the feeling. She didn't like Kiba...did she?


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey everybody. I should have had this chapter up Saturday, but I wasn't happy with it and I started over. So I hope this is better than the chapter I had written first, which it won't matter because you guys will never read it anyway. Wow, I'm rambling alot. lol. Anyway, thanks for the love guys, I love reading your reviews. They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter tooo, Ramen. I've never had 'real' Ramen, but I've had Ramen Noodles and they are pretty darn good. Plus Naruto looooves Ramen so it must be goood. Ramen is awesome. Yay for Ramen, that's why this chapter is dedicated to Ramen.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own Naruto, I don't own Naruto. Wow, I think a part of my heart just died. lol. Anyway, time for the story!!**

* * *

"Ino!" Came Kiba's voice. Ino turned and saw the form of Kiba running towards her. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. 

"What?" She demanded. He reached her and stopped, panting just a little bit. His face turned red, why had he ran after her and called her name?

"Uhm, well...I don't know what I did to make Odori mad...and I don't want you mad at me...and...well...I'm sorry for whatever I did," He said. Ino knew he was having difficulties apologizing, it was against his nature. Ino found she had difficulties apologizing as well.

"What you were doing to Odori was really uncalled for and wrong!" Ino said, dissapointment filled her voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about! What did I do to Odori?" He asked, his voice rising. Ino shot him a warning look, telling him to stay quiet.

"Odori told me that you were using her!" Ino shot at him. Kiba looked dumbfounded.

"What? Odori can't even talk! And why would I use her?" Kiba asked, shaking his head. Ino frowned and stepped towards him.

"Odori can write, dumbass! And Odori told me you were using her to..." Ino's face turned a slight pink and her voice trailed off.

"I was using her to what?" He demanded. Ino sighed.

"She said...she said that you were...were using her to make...me jealous," Ino said, stumbling over her words. That was something she wasn't used to. Normally she was well composed and able to keep her calm. Kiba's face froze and the color drained from it. "I knew it! It's true, you were using Odori! Kiba, how could you!" Ino asked, upset.

"Well, I admit I was...uh...coming on to her...but I really didn't want...to be...well...with her...yah...," He answered. They were silent for a few moments. "I just would like to know how Odori knew," Kiba said.

"Me too," Ino admitted. Kiba looked around and scratched the back of his neck.

"So...are you still mad at me? Do you hate my guts?" Kiba asked. Ino smiled weakly.

"I guess I could forgive you, but don't do it again," Ino said. Kiba put his hands up and smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't. It causes too much trouble," He said.

"And it also hurts people's feelings, and it's wrong," Ino added. Kiba nodded.

"Yah, that too," Kiba said. "So, what do you say we go get something for supper?" It was later in the evening. After Ino had eaten lunch she had escorted Odori home to the mansion. Afterwards she had wondered around the market place, Joushi had given her the rest of the night off. She hadn't seen Kiba, before now, since lunch.

"Sure," She said. A smile spread on her face. "As long as you're paying." A crooked smile appeared on Kiba's face and he shook his head.

"Fine, but you're paying next time," He said.

"Fine, it's a deal," Ino said in a business-like tone. Kiba laughed.

"Alright, let's go. I'm wanting a cheese hamburger. Come on, Akamaru," Kiba said and the three of them set down the street. As they were walking, they picked up a delicious smell. Akamaru lead the way to the resturant, but when they arrived they saw a sign saying no dogs. Kiba shrugged and they walked in with Akamaru anyway. A waiter walked up them and stopped them.

"I'm sorry, but we do not allow dogs in this establishment," The man said. Ino frowned and put her hands on her waist.

"He's not just any dog, he's my nindog. We are never seperated," Kiba said, crossing his arms accross his chest and looking menacing. The waitor shook his head.

"No dogs allowed, period," The waitor said, frowning this time.

"The Hokage-sama wouldn't be very happy if she found out the poor treatment of her ninja while they were assigned on an important mission," Ino said.

"I could care less about your Hokage-sama," He said. Ino gasped and Kiba growled.

"What?!" Kiba demanded. Ino shook her head.

"We are here on a mission to help your country out, and you don't care about our Hokage-sama? Maybe we shouldn't help you out anymore, then we'd see what this place would be like," Ino said, still frowning. The waitor scoffed.

"Fine, go whine to your Hokage, like it'd effect me," He said. Ino clenched her fists and felt a strong urge to punch the guy in the face. She probably would have if Kiba hadn't stepped in.

"Look, waitor, do you like the Waterfall Festival?" Kiba said, grabbing the waitor's collar and pulling the man close to his face. The waitor nodded quickly. "Then it wouldn't be wise to disrespect Hokage-sama and the shinobi of Konoha," Kiba said. He released the waitor and the man took a few quick steps back.

"Are you insinuating that the Hokage would get rid of the festival?" The man asked, with a raised eyebrow. Ino groaned and slapped her hand to her head in frustration.

"You idiot! We are here to make sure the Waterfall Festival happens!" Ino said, carefull not to reveal too much of their mission. Kiba nodded and crossed his arms accross his chest again. Another man walked up, he was wearing a similiar uniform as the waitor, but he had the air of importancy about him. When the waitor saw him coming, he stood up straighter and smoothed his collar which Kiba had messed up.

"Is there a problem here?" The man asked.

"No-" The waitor began but Ino cut across him.

"He's not letting us in because of Akamaru," Ino said pointing at the nindog, "His Kiba's nindog, and they are never seperated." The man nodded and turned to frown at the waitor.

"Why did you stop them from entering?" He asked, glaring.

"Well, the rules...the rules specificially say no dogs...and the sign...no dogs...and that's a dog...," The waitor said, flustered.

"Nonsense, this is a nindog. Right this way, please. I beg of your forgiveness," The man said, leading them in. Ino and Kiba followed the man and he showed them to a nice table. Ino and Kiba bowed, and the man returned it before walking off.

"I feel like some kind of thug," Ino said as she sat down.

"Nah, you're not. He should have let us in, Akamaru's a nindog. This place is nice, I didn't want to pass it up," Kiba said sitting in his chair across from Ino. Ino nodded and played with her napkin. Akamaru barked and sat next to Kiba, in his own chair.

"I hope we get a different waitor, that guy might spit in our food," Ino said. Kiba laughed.

"I'll smell your food for yah if you want me too. I'll make sure he didn't spit in it," He said. Ino leaned forward.

"You can tell if someone spit in your food, with your sense of smell," Ino asked, awed. Kiba smiled and put a finger on his nose.

"Of course, my sense of smell is strong like Akamaru's," Kiba said. Ino nodded.

"Well, I knew you had a great sense of smell, but I didn't know it was the good," She said. Kiba was really an amazing shinobi. So what if he was bossy and had a temper? He was cute and strong and, what was Ino thinking? She couldn't like Dog Boy. That was unheard of, Kiba and Ino? That's like pairing Hinata and...and...Ino thought of a good example. That was like pairing Hinata and Shikamaru. It would never happen. Besides, he didn't like her, and she didn't like him. Ino sighed and rubbed her head, confused.

"Are you ok?" Kiba asked, "Do you have a headache or something?"

"No, I'm fine," Ino said. He looked cute when he was concerned. Maybe she was getting a headache. Maybe she was getting sick, or something.

* * *

**A/N: Please point out any typos or spelling errors. Or grammer errors, I've really been slacking on stuff like that. Anyway, I had troubles ending this chapter. Lol. --sings- sombodies in denial. -end singing- lol. Wow, I'm hyper. So I hope you like it. I'm hoping to get another chapter up this Saturday. Yay!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Wow, look at that! The next chapter is up already! And this time, I promise action! lol. I'm sorry that I've let the story be boring-ish, but I had to get past all the 'beginning' parts of the mission. But hopefully you guys still enjoyed it and weren't lying just to make me feel better about myself, lol.**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to Ino, because she's one awesome chick who still gets confused about boys. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Are you ready to go?" Kiba asked, knocking on Ino's door with the back of his knuckles. 

"In just a minute!" Came Ino's muffled response. Kiba sighed and knocked again.

"Inooo, Come on. You are going to make Odori late!" He called. He leaned against the door frame tapping his foot impatiently until the door swung open. Ino stepped out and nodded to Kiba.

"Alright, let's go," Ino said and began walking up the hallway. This time as they walked, Kiba noticed the many pictures hanging on the walls. They were all paintings of landscapes, and Kiba wondered who had painted them. Joushi was waiting for them at the entrance with a servant. The servant was holding a big bag. Joushi clapped his hands, and the man stepped forward and handed them the bag.

"Thanks," Kiba said. Ino and Kiba bowed, and Joushi returned the bow. Kiba picked up the footsteps before Ino did and turned to see Odori coming up the hallway.

"Are you ready?" Ino asked Odori. Ino had explained the details of the plan to Odori when they had had lunch the day before. Odori nodded and stood up straight. Ino put her hands together and aimed them at Odori. "Don't move," She warned. After a minute, Ino's body fell towards the floor. Kiba caught it before it landed on the floor.

Odori pointed at the body and then pointed at the bag, and Kiba nodded. He carefully but Ino's body in the bag and buttoned it up. He lifted the bag and placed it on his shoulders.

"Let's go," He said. Akamaru and Odori followed behind him as he walked out the door. He was surprised to find that Ino's body barely weighed anything.

They walked down the street, Kiba and Akamaru were on alert, but it didn't seem if you just looked at them. "This is strange," Came a pretty voice. The voice echoed inside of Odori's head and Ino smiled. Of course Ino expected Odori to have an inner voice. Ino didn't have as strong of hold on Odori, she didn't want to waste her chakra when Odori was willing in the first place. So Ino thought they might be able to communicate with each other. She was right.

"Yah, it is at first," Ino said, or more thought.

"This is your jutsu?" Odori asked, conversationally.

"Yah, a bloodline limit," Ino thought to Odori.

"Does Kiba have a bloodline limit?" Odori asked.

"His family uses nindogs. Akamaru is Kiba's nindog," She answered.

A rough hand wrapped around Odori's wrist and Ino tensed. Kiba was walking in front of her. They had taken a forest path, it was the quickest way to the building they were headed. They could be surrounded right now. Anger welled up in Ino, Kiba was supposed to be walking behind her so they could communicate. The hand pulled back on her, and Odori turned to face the man. He was obviously a shinobi, but Ino couldn't find his forehead protector.

Ino pulled on her hand, while forming a punch with the other. The punch landed in the man's gut, but it didn't have as much power as it would have if she were in her own body. In her peripheral vision she saw Kiba's spinning vortex of claws and teeth. The man let go of her wrist and turned just in time to get hit face on by Kiba.

Ino took a few steps back and looked around. She smiled when she saw her body lying on the ground. That's what had taken Kiba so long, he had taken her body out for her. She took a calming breath and then returned to her body. She stood up as soon as she was back in her body. "Odori, stay close to me," She called out. The girl nodded and stepped closer to Ino.

Ino's blue eyes darted around the area, keeping an eye out for the ninja and any comrades he may have. There were now two Kiba's fighting the shinobi, and Ino knew one was Akamaru. Odori cried out and Ino turned to the girl. A kunai was pinning her down to the ground through her pants. Luckily it had missed her leg. Ino swooped in and pulled the kunai loose.

**CHING!** Ino barely brought the kunai up in time to deflect another. Either there was another ninja out there, or the one fighting Kiba had set up traps. **CHING! CHING! CHING!** **CHING!** A group of kunai flew at her. Odori was still laying down on the ground, where she had been pinned. Ino stood in front of her, so far the kunai were coming from the same direction.

**CHING!** Ino reflected another kunai. **CHING! CHING! CHING!** The kunai were coming swiftly and accuratly.

"What are you playing at? Show yourself!" Ino called out, frustrated. Another kunai flew out towards her, but this time Ino threw her kunai in the at the orgin of the kunai that was flying at her. As the kunai neared Ino ducked, and it flew over her head. She didn't want to waste her duck, so she scooped up a couple of the kunai and returned to her stance.

There was a strangled yelp, and Ino turned to see the kunai she had just ducked, sticking out of the back of the shinobi fighting Kiba. The man was glaring in the direction of the trees, his fists clenched. The man disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the kunai stopped flying at Ino. Ino looked back at the trees where the kunai had come from and she waited to see if any more would come. After she had waited for a few minutes, and no more had came, Ino turned to Odori and helped her up.

The girl was pale, and Ino suspected that she had never encountered an attack like this before. Ino heard a whimper and turned back towards where Kiba was. Akamaru was out of the jutsu and he was lying on the ground. With a gasp Ino rushed to the nindog and ran her fingers threw his fur. He licked her hand and whined again.

Ino looked up to see where Kiba was, and she saw him pushing himself up from the ground. He was pretty beat up and Ino was worried. When she stood up and started towards him he growled at her. Ino clenched her fists and stopped. The dog boy walked over to his nindog and ran his fingers threw his fur, like Ino had. Except he was checking for wounds, and Ino had been trying to comfort Akamaru.

Ino watched quietly while Kiba tended to his dog. She didn't say anything until Kiba scooped Akamaru up and abandoned his kneeling postition to stand up.

"Is he ok?" Ino asked, tentatively.

"Yah, he is. We better get going. We don't want Odori to be late," Kiba said in an emotionless voice. Anger clutched at Ino again, not at Kiba, but at her inability to understand him. Why was he so confusing? Weren't boys supposed to be easy to figure out?

"Are you ok, Kiba?" Ino asked.

"I'm fine, I'm not some weakling. Are _you_ ok?" He asked, angry now. Ino glared at him for a few minutes, but decided it wasn't worth fighting with Kiba right now.

"Come on Odori," Ino said with a sigh. She started walking on the path, Odori jogged a little to catch up with her, and didn't answer Kiba. She heard him sigh as well and begin to walk behind them. Ino didn't want to fight with Kiba. She liked it too much when they got along, that she was making an effort not to get on his badside._ "What would Sakura say if she knew I'm falling for Dog Boy?"_ Ino asked herself. Kiba was cute and strong. Would it be so bad to like him? _"But he's a jerk and he's stubborn, and the biggest idiot I've ever met!"_ Ino argued with herself.

Ino sighed again. This was going to be a long and confusing mission.

* * *

**A/N: Just to give you a little explanation for Kiba. He just got beat up, and Ino ducking the kunai 'saved' him. And he's a little sore about his 'almost' defeat and he doesn't want Ino to see him as weak. Plus he's confused because Ino isn't being mean to him like she should be. So that's why he was so sour.**

**yep, alright everybody, be prepared for the next chapter. I'm not sure, I'm actually writing this story as I go, but I think the next one might be a bit boring. But I'll try to make it interesting. Cuz Odori will find her position for the competition, and that's all I got planned so far.**

**But I have big plans for other things that'll happen later in the story.**

**ok, I'm done talking. -er, I mean typing.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Alright, here's chapter 10. I'm not sure how many chapter there'll be, but I think in about 6 more chapters, this story will be done. But it may be longer. And I'm planning on having a Sequel.**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to all the awesome people who've been reviewing this story. Thanks for the love guys!**

**Disclaimer: -sighs- I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Ino walked down the path, next to Odori. The only noise was the soft noise of their footsteps. Ino was thinking about the attack that had happened minutes ago. Why had the man run away? He did get a kunai in the back, but why did he just disappear in a puff of smoke? Ino looked down at the kunai she still held in her hand. It wasn't the normal silver color, it was a blood red color, and it had a black stripe that ran down the length of it. 

In the heat of the battle she hadn't noticed these differences, but now holding it in her hand and studying it, they were obvious. She held it carefully, wondering if it contained a poison or something. The kunai probably held some power or properties that made it extremely dangerous. The man had over-reacted to the kunai, even Ino didn't cry out when she was stabbed by a kunai.

"Kiba...," Ino said quietly.

"What?" He asked, his voice emotionless again. Ino turned to him, worry in her eyes. What was up with Kiba? Why was he acting so distant? She held up the kunai so Kiba could see it.

"This is the kunai that were flying from the trees. Either from traps or another shinobi. What do you think of it?" Ino asked. Kiba narrowed his eyes at the kunai and stepped forward. Ino handed the kunai to him, his warm skin left tingly sensations on her own skin, when his hand brushed hers. If he felt the tingly sensations, it didn't show. Ino struggled to keep the confusion out of her features.

Kiba turned the kunai over in his hand, and brought it up to his nose. Carefully he sniffed it, and pulled it away from his nose in sudden disgust. He dropped it on the ground, pinched his nose and took a few steps back. Ino took a few steps back too, it seemed like a good idea. Even though she couldn't smell anything.

"What is it?" Ino asked, staring down at the kunai.

"It has a strange smell, I haven't smelled this smell before. But it made me sick to my stomach. I think it contains some type of special poison or something," He answered. Ino cheered up alitte, his voice wasn't emotionless any more, but then again it was hard to tell when he was talking while holding his nose.

Akamaru wiggled out of Kiba's coat and jumped down to the ground, landing quietly. He sniffed at the kunai, then began barking at it, like he would have at an enemy. Ino stepped forward and picked it up. She carefully wrapped it up in cloth and tucked it away, so they could study it later. They began walking again, and Ino was relieved that Kiba wasn't acting distant anymore.

Akamaru was walking again, and looked better. He drew Ino and Kiba's attention when he began barking again.

"What is it, Akamaru?" Kiba asked. Akamaru barked again. "What?!" Kiba asked, his eyes widening and he turned to face Odori. Ino looked at Ordori too, and Odori seemed to look uncomfortable under their gaze. There was a hole in her pants, like something had eaten the fabric away.

"That hole is where the kunai went through her pants and had pinned her to the ground," Ino said, pointing at the hole. "It's a lot bigger than a regular kunai hole, and it looks like the fabric was eaten away," Ino stated the obvious.

"Let me see the kunai again," Kiba said, holding out his hand. Ino nodded and pulled out the weapon. She yelped and dropped it. The small group formed a circle around the kunai lying on the ground. They watched in horror as the weapon finished eating through the cloth. Ino looked down at her hand, as if to check and make sure it was still there.

"That could have been my hand," Ino said, fear shining in her eyes. Akamaru whined and jumped into Kiba's arms.

"Yah," Kiba said. He continued to look at the knife. "But weren't you holding this knife for a long time?" He asked Ino. Ino nodded.

"Yah, I was," Ino looked back down at her hands. "But it didn't eat through my hands," Ino said.

"Maybe it only eats through cloth," Kiba said. Ino shrugged.

"Well, I think we shouldn't take it with us," Ino said. Kiba nodded and then looked up at the sky.

"We need to hurry up and get Odori there. She'll be late and this whole mission will turn out to be worthless," Kiba said.

"We could run, Odori could ride on one of our backs," Ino suggusted. Kiba nodded. "Probably your back since you are stronger than me," Ino said. She struggled not to look jealous or upset. Kiba already said he didn't like Odori. Odori stepped towards Kiba, a strange look on her face. Kiba smiled, trying to be kind and turned away from her.

"Alright let's go," Kiba said as she Odori climbed onto his back. Akamaru barked excitedly and they took off. Leaping down the path at a fast pace. When they arrived at the competition building, Kiba was relieved. His back was aching and his legs were burning. Running that far wasn't usually taxing, even at a fast pace. Esspecially since he went on 'walks' with Akamaru like this all the time. But the fight with the shinobi had made him sore.

Odori climbed down, off of Kiba's back and walked towards the building. Ino closed in beside her, while Kiba walked slightly behind the two girls. Ino pushed open the door and let Odori walk in before her. They walked into a large room with a high ceiling. Ino looked around and saw tons of doors everywhere.

Straight across from the door that they had walked in, was a door that was fancier than all the rest. Ino squinted and read the sign next to the door. It said "Theater". Ino turned back to Odori who was looking at her. She pointed at the door and held up a hand with three fingers up. She pointed her finger to the right of the door.

Kiba scratched his head and when Ino looked at him to see what he thought, he shrugged. Odori rolled her eyes and sighed. She pulled her small pack off and pulled out a pad and pen. She began to scribble quickly on the pad. She held the pad up and it said, "I need to go in the room 3 to the right of the theater." Ino nodded, that was easy enough.

"Ok," Ino said. "Kiba, you stand here by the door, and I'll walk her to the room," She added. Kiba scowled, but didn't say anything about her being bossy.

"Fine," He said in a low voice, sitting down beside the door. Ino smiled and headed across the room with Odori.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yay! I like this chapter! Thanks again for the love guys! I hope you guys like this chapter, because I do.**

**Dedicatioin: I dedicate this chapter to Kiba. Because he's awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Ino woke up with a start, her breath coming out in short gasps. Cold sweat covered her body, and her heart was beating wildly. Her beautiful blue eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for the horrors that had tormented her minutes ago. Not finding them, Ino sighed with relief. It was only a dream. A horrible, horrible dream. 

Her heart beat slowed, and her breathing gradually became more regular and even. But she was shaking, the nightmare had seem so real. She didn't want to remember it, but the whole thing came back. Sasuke and Orchimaru coming to Konoha and killing everybody. She shuddered as she remembered how Shikamaru had been killed right in front of her.

She buried her face in her hands and sobs racked her body. After about a few minutes, she laid back down. Still crying, she couldn't find solace in sleep. She was afraid that the nightmare terrors would capture her again and fill her with more fright. Kiba's face came to her mind, and she remembered the comfort of his arms.

Making her decision, she stood up out of bed and walked queitly to her door. She carefully opened the door, and stuck her head out. The hallway was empty, which would be expected in the middle of the night. Her head retreated, and out came her whole body. She turned and carefully shut the door. Turning back to face Kiba's door, she crept across the hallway.

She hesitated before reaching for the knob. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she put her hand on the knob. The metal was cold and smooth under her touch. Ino turned it and walked into Kiba's room. When she shut the door behind her, softly, Akamaru stirred. Ino froze and held her breath. She hoped that the dog wouldn't start barking and wake up the other people in the house.

The dog picked up it's head, and then put it back down in a different position. Ino stifled a sigh of relief and walked across the room. Ino reached the bed's side in a matter of seconds, and looked down at the sleeping form of Kiba. Ino smiled and decided that sleeping Kiba was her favorite kind of Kiba.

She reached out a hand and pulled back on the covers. Carefully she crawled under them, and scooted closer to Kiba. She felt his warmth long before she actually made contact with him. When her arm brushed on his, he stirred. Ino froze again. Kiba turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around her. Ino's body relaxed and she put her head near his, and looked at his sleeping face. Everytime he breathed out, his breath stirred her bangs. Ino took in a deep breath, appreciating the fact that Kiba smelled good.

She took her hand and ran it down the side of his face. Kiba stirred again and pulled her closer to him. His body seemed to be molded to hers, fitting exactly. Ino's eyes drifted up to the ceiling. How many times had she dreamt of Shikamaru holding her like this? She wondered what it would have felt like.

Ino closed her eyes and snuggled up against Kiba. The best thing she could do was avoid thinking about Shika-kun. It shouldn't be that hard, especially in the arms of one of the cute and strong Konoha shinobi. Ino fell asleep with a smile on her face.

---

Kiba opened his eyes, groggy and not sure why he was waking up. The room was still dark, which meant it was before six. His body stiffened when he became aware of someone in the bed with him. Confused he looked down and saw bright blonde hair that seemed to give off it's own light in the darkness. He reached out and gathered a lock of it in his hand. He let the hair fall out of hand and return to it's place on Ino's head.

His hand then hovered over the kunoichi, and he lowered it. His fingers made contact with her soft skin, and her ran his index finger across her cheek. He pulled back his hand and looked at Ino, perplexed. He was sure that she was really there, but why was she there? The blonde kunoichi stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

Her eyes darted to his face, and a blush settled on her cheeks. She sat up, and Kiba found that he wished she hadn't. He liked the feel of her in his arms.

"Ino...," He said. He could see her blush grow a deeper shade of red in the brightning day. She ran her hand through her hair nervously.

"Sorry, it's just...," Ino began to explain why she was in his bed, "I had a really bad nightmare, and I couldn't get to sleep...so I came in here. I didn't want to be alone." Kiba smiled and nodded.

"Ino, it's ok," Kiba said, patting Ino's hand. "But you'd better go back to your room. People might get the wrong idea." Ino nodded, relieved that he hadn't said anything smart assed or perverted. Kiba had a good side to him, and Ino liked this side. Though she didn't see it much. Ino stood up and crossed the room. "Ino," Kiba said. She stopped and turned to face him. "If you come back tomarrow, why don't you get rid of the clothes?" He said, a cocky grin spreading on his face. Ino scoffed and shook her head.

"Kiba," Ino said, "That only happens in your dreams. This is the real world, ok?"

"Oh, come on," Kiba said with a groan, "I don't have dumb dreams like that."

"Oh yea?" Ino asked. "Well I heard you saying my name last night while you were sleeping." Kiba sat up, looking amused.

"You're kidding," Kiba said, though he sounded doubtfull. Ino just laughed and slipped out of the room. He turned and looked at Akamaru. "She's kidding right?" He asked his dog.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked.

"You were asleep?" Kiba asked. "What kind of nindog are you?" He asked playfully, nudging his dog.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey everybody. Here come another good chapter! Yay! Maybe the awesome book I'm reading right now is helping me be more literate. lol. I dunno. Anyway this chapter is special! You finally get to find out what happened to make Ino so sad. And what Shika-kun had to do with it. Yay for flashbacks!**

**Dedication: I dedicate this to Masashi Kishimoto for making Naruto so awesome.**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto -points at dedication- geez, common sense people! lol.**

* * *

Ino sat with her back to the wall, sitting just outside of the room that Odori was learning the competition dance with the other girls in the competition. They had gotten there pretty easy, taking the same trail through the woods, and they didn't get attacked. When they had asked Joushi-sama about the red kunai with the black stripe, Joushi-sama had pulled out a book and handed it to Ino. 

The book was about some old clans with special abilities, also known as bloodline limits. The clans were very ancient, dating way back before there was even a hokage. Joushi-sama told her a clan name, and she flipped it to the page with the name as a header. He told her to read the page, and she did.

It talked about how the clan used their own personal blacksmith to make the special kunai. It contained a poison that didn't affect your skin, but if it got in your blood stream, it would immediatly start destroying your veins. The bloodline limit of the clan was to use their chakra to strengthen the poison, and send the kunai straighter and more accurate. The kunai would 'glow' with the chakra from the chakra holder, and if the kunai embedded in your skin, the chakra holder could increase the chakra flow and make it hard to pull the kunai free.

This allowed the poison to destroy your whole body, starting with the veins, and slowly killing you. It was extremely painful. There is no known antidote, people say that only the clan members know the secret to reverse the poison. Ino looked back up at Joushi-sama after she finished reading. Odori would be dead right now if the kunai hadn't missed her by the hair that it had.

But at the moment, Ino wasn't thinking about that. She was lost in a memory, the same memory that she'd been turning in her head over and over again since it'd happened. There was a sad expresion on her face as she remembered her talk with Shikamaru before she had left on the mission.

**Flashback**

"Oi, Shika-kun!" Ino called out. The lazy ninja picked his head up to look in her direction, while she waved. Coming over to him, she smiled.

"Oi, Ino-chan," Shikamaru replied, laying back down to look back up at the clouds. "You seem happy today," Shikamaru observed. Ino bit her lip and sat down beside her teammate.

"Hai, it's a beautiful day," She said. She laid down, and folded her arms behind her head. She just hoped that Shikamaru wouldn't notice how nervous she was. Today she had woken up determined to tell Shika-kun how she felt about him. Why she liked the lazy boy, she didn't know, maybe it was the fact that they spent so much time together.

"Oi, Ino, is something bothering you?" Shikamaru asked her, turning to look at her. Ino tried not to look surprised.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"Well, usually by now you would have talked my ear off," Shikamaru said, in a bored voice. Ino giggled.

"Oh come on, I don't talk that much!" Ino insisted.

"You women are all troublesome. Always talking," Shikamaru said.

"I don't talk all the time!" Ino insisted again. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Oi, Shikamaru, can you believe that Sakura actually thinks that Sasuke likes her? Oi, Shikamaru, look at that girl. Her outfit is hideous. Oi, Shikamaru you wouldn't believe who came into the flower shop today!" Shikamaru mocked the blonde, playfully. Ino laughed and pushed Shikamru.

"Ok, ok. I get it. I do talk alot," She said. A small silence passed between them, they were both looking up at the clouds. After a few moments Ino turned to face Shikamaru. "Shika-kun?" She asked, her voice softer than normal. Shikamaru turned to look at her, intrigued by the change in the blonde's voice.

"Yah?" He asked. Ino looked back up at the clouds before answering.

"What do you think about love?" Ino asked, her voice still soft. Shikamaru studied her before answering.

"I think love is troublesome. It traps you, and yet when your caught you think it's the best thing that ever happened," Shikamaru answered. Ino was still looking up at the clouds.

"Shika-kun, are you in love?" Ino asked. Shikamaru looked back up at the clouds. This conversation was getting a bit awkward for him, but he still answered her, otherwise she would pester him till he answered anyway.

"I think so," He answered, which was the truth.

"Really?" Ino asked, her voice sounded wierd to the Shikamaru.

"Yah," He answered.

"What made you fall in love with her?" She asked. Shikamaru's brows drew together as he pondered for a few minutes.

"Well, I really like her blonde hair. She's so strong and determined," Shikamaru said. Ino's heart leapt, surely he was talking about her.

"Do you think she likes you?" Ino asked.

"I hope so," He said.

"Are you going to tell her?" Ino asked.

"Well, I have to wait for her to come back to Konoha," Shikamaru said. Ino froze. He hadn't been talking about her, he'd been talking about Temari! Ino couldn't help but look crestfallen.

"Oh," She answered, struggling to keep her voice emotionless. She sat up and brushed off her clothes.

"Ino-chan?" He asked, confused as he watched his teammate stand up.

"I have to go, my mom wanted me to work in the shop today," She said, trying not to sound disappointed. Ino walked away, not looking back at Shikamaru.

---

Kiba watched Ino. She hadn't said much since they had arrived at the competition hall with Odori. She seemed to be thinking, and what ever she was thinking about was making her sad. Kiba stood up and walked over to the kunoichi and sat down beside her. She looked up at him and attempted a weak smile.

"Are your nightmares bothering you?" He asked, his voice tender. Ino shook her head.

"No," She answered.

"Is it the same reason why you were upset the first night of this mission?" Kiba asked. Ino merely nodded and a few tears slipped out. Kiba's eyebrows furrowed and he wrapped his arms around her. "It's ok," He said, stroking her hair. Ino leaned her head against his, and was glad that he had come over to comfort her.

"This is a side of you I didn't know existed," Ino said softly when she had regained some of her composure.

"Well, you looked sad. I doubt you could be focused on the mission if you were so miserable. I guessed you could use a hug, and I don't pass up any oppurtunities to get a free hug from a girl," Kiba said. Ino sniffed and then giggled.

"Kiba, you're funny," She said, snuggling against him.

"Thanks," Kiba said, "I try." He smiled and then tickled her. "Don't worry, I'll make up and tease you a whole bunch later," Kiba said.

* * *

**A/N: awww, Kiba's being nice. lol. I like him when he's being sweet. I also like him when he's being bossy and ignorant and when he's mad and...well, I like everything about Kiba. lol. **

**anyway, Kiba and Ino are awesome.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: wow. I'm really tired. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I've had this chapter in my head for a while and I've been too busy with school crap to post it. It's not the greatest chapter, but it's needed for the story. Think of it as a sort of 'filler', lol.**

**Dedication: To my best friend who cheered me up today!**

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish, I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Ino's head jerked away from Kiba's when she heard a loud noise. She rubbed her eyes, realizing she had fallen asleep. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see Kiba. A smile was on his face. 

"It's ok," He said reassuringly, "Odori is done for today."

"What time is it?" Ino asked.

"It's around 5," Kiba answered. Ino nodded and looked around the room. There was a whole group of girls leaving the competition room. There was also a vase broken on the ground near the exciting door.

"Who knocked over the vase? Was that the loud noise?" Ino asked, confused and still a bit dazed from her long afternoon nap.

"Yah, well, remember the other day when you and Odori got mad at me and went to eat lunch by yourself?" Kiba started, not sure how Ino would take this. He hoped she wouldn't get mad at him, he was getting quite fond of her and didn't want her upset with him. Ino raised an eyebrow, wondering why Kiba was hesitating.

"Yahhh," Ino said, drawing the word out.

"Well, after you two left me...this girl came up to me all of a sudden...and asked me where I was taking her...and I was confused, but she said that she needed someone to take her out because young girls like her shouldn't be out by themselves. So I took her to lunch," Kiba answered. Ino felt a sudden rush of jealousy.

"So you just took a total stranger out to lunch? What was her name?" Ino asked.

"Well, I don't know her name, actually," Kiba answered. Ino's mouth fell open in shock.

"What?!" She asked, "You don't know her name?" Kiba held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, hey. I just took her out to lunch, I didn't really like her so it doesn't matter. There was something...wrong about her," Kiba said, catching Ino's hand in his. "It didn't matter to me what her name was," he said. Ino smiled, and felt her jealousness ease.

"But that still doesn't explain the noise," Ino said, looking over at the broken vase.

"Well, she walked out of the competition room and she saw you and me, and well she pushed the vase of the stand and stormed out of the building," Kiba said. Ino nodded to indicate that she heard what he was saying and watched as somebody bent down to pick up the broken pieces of the vase.

Ino looked up when two legs came to stand in front of her. She saw Odori standing in front of her, the girl looked exhasted, but strangely upbeat. "Hey, Odori," Ino's voice rang out. She pulled her feet underneath her and pulled herself up to stand, releasing Kiba's hand on the way up. "Did it go well?" Ino asked. The girl nodded happily. "Is the dance difficult?" She asked. Again Odori nodded. "Did you learn it all today?"

Odori shook her head and began scribbling on her paper. She handed the sheet to Ino and Ino read it aloud. "We learned half the dance today, and we'll learn the other half tomarrow. The day after tomarrow is the day of the competition. Then there's a day where the winning dancer gets a break. Then the day after that is the festival." Ino smiled and handed the pad back to Odori.

"Alright, let's get you home," Ino said, clapping her hands together. She had just taken a long nap and was buzzing with energy. She caught herself wishing that someone would attack them on their way home so she could see some action. Ino closed her eyes and opened them again. What was she thinking? The poison in the kunai were extremely lethal, she couldn't just go around wishing to fight because she was bored. They were on a mission to protect Odori, there was always time to fight. She was a ninja after all.

She started heading towards the door, Kiba and Odori trailing behind her. When she stepped out the door she smiled and took in a deep breath.

"You seem happy," Kiba observed, and the sentance pulled her mind back to Shikamaru. That's what he had said, the last time she saw him before this mission.

"Hai, it's a beautiful day," Ino replied, and she wasn't able to shake the feeling of deja vu.

"Oi, Ino, is something bothering you?" Kiba asked. Ino's heart began to quicken slightly. Why was this happening?

"What do you mean?" Ino asked, finding herself unable to avoid asking the same question she had asked Shika-kun when he had asked her if something was bothering her.

"Well, one minute you were all happy, but when I said you looked happy you just answered that it was a beautiful day and started looking sad," Kiba answered and Ino almost sighed aloud with relief. She was almost afraid that he was going to tell her that he was in love with Temari.

"It just reminded me of something," Ino answered, the sadness in her voice uncharacteristic. Ino was usually confident and happy. Seeing Ino sad made Kiba feel the urge to comfort her. Coming up beside her Kiba took her hand in his again.

"Want to tell me about it?" He asked, giving her hand a supportive squeeze. Ino shook her head.

"Sorry Kiba, it's still to soon for me to talk about it," Ino answered. Kiba looked away, struggling with himself. Anger rose within him, how could Ino refuse talking with him about it when he had done so much to comfort her! She didn't trust him, that was it. Taking a deep calming breath, Kiba tried to be rational. Whatever was effecting her was probably too recent for her to be able to talk about. He turned back to face her and plastered a smile on his own face.

"That's ok, I'm here when you need me," He said. Ino smiled, glad that he understood.

"Thanks," She said. The three of them walked in silence. Ino was the first one to speak up again. "It's wierd without Akamaru, ain't it?" Ino asked. They had left Akamaru at the mansion, giving him the day to rest. Kiba nodded, he was rubbing his thumb along her palm.

"Yah, it certainly is," Kiba answered. Ino turned to study Kiba. He had messy brunette hair, that Ino found strangely attractive, and those red triangle 'fang' marks on his cheeks. Usually there was a cocky grin on his face, though he looked quietly happy at the moment. Her eyes ran down his torso, which was nicely shaped, filled out in the right places with muscle. But he still had a leaness to him, and was able to fly through the air in crazy aerobatic stunts.

"What?" Kiba asked, bringing Ino out of her observations of Kiba. Ino smiled and reached over to wrap her hand around Kiba's arm muscle and playfully squeezed it.

"I was just admiring your muscles. You're more defined than my teammates," Ino said truthfully, but with a teasing tone. Kiba laughed.

"Well, that's good to know that I'm not a lazy ass or a fat ass," Kiba replied. Ino half expected to feel angry, but she didn't. How many times had Ino herself called Shikamaru a lazy ass and Chouji a fat ass. Kiba wasn't lazy or fat, he was athletic and cute. Sasuke had been athletic and cute as well, but Kiba had a sense of humor and a nice side to him. While Sasuke was cold and didn't appreciate a good joke. Ino looked up and saw Kiba staring at her.

"What?" She asked. Kiba laughed, still running his thumb along her palm.

"I was just admiring your muscles," Kiba said, trying to look innocent. Ino laughed and pushed him.

"Nice try," Ino answered.

"Well, it was worth a shot," He said.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Wow, this idea has been bugging me all week. I'm glad to finally start the plot off. I've been spacing off in class thinking about it, and I don't know if this will make it better or worse. Lol. Anyway, I typed this chapter kind of quickly, so if you seen any mistakes please point them out. For the purposes of not boring you guys, I'm skipping the second day of practice for the competition. Basically nothing happened on the way there or back. And Ino slept in Kiba's bed again. Lol, thanks.**

**Dedication: To my awesome reviewers! Thanks for the love guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

Kiba woke up, and smiled sleepily as a form slipped into bed beside him. "I like this habit," Kiba said. 

"Shut up and go back to sleep," Ino told Kiba, who laughed and pulled her close to him.

"Ok, princess," Kiba said. Ino's body stiffened and she frowned.

"Please don't call me that," Ino said, her voice low and distant. Kiba hadn't meant to offend Ino, they had been getting along lately and it had been wonderful.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Kiba said softly. The sincerity in his voice made Ino believe him, and she snuggled against him. Kiba smiled, glad that the problem had been averted before it became a crisis. He couldn't help but wonder why Ino didn't want to be called princess, and he almost asked her twice, but he finally came to the decision not to ask her now.

"It's ok," Ino said, accepting his apology. She laid her head on his chest and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

Ino slipped out of the building, still dressed in her nightgown, and shut the door behind her. She walked a few paces out and sat down on the grassy hill in the backyard. She took her shoes off (she had slipped them on when she was walking out, stfu I don't care what you think! lol.) and leaned back on her arms with her legs stretched out in front of her. 

She was just in time to see the sun rise up over the edge of the horizen, and welcomed the warming rays of sunlight that rested on her arms. The dream she had last night was bothering her, and she decided to come outside and reflect on it and watch the sunrise. The sunrise and the sunset always had a calming effect on the kuniochi, as well as the stars. Which was why she enjoyed watching them, the natural beauty put her at peace.

She had had the same dream, atleast at the beginning. Sasuke had came back with Orchimaru to destroy konoha. Towards the end is when it changed on her. This time Kiba and Shikamaru were fighting to protect her, and they were both killed in front of her. The worse part is, that both of them were avoidable. She could have saved one of them, but she hadn't been able to choose who to save, so they were both killed.

Ino shuddered, the dream was horrible, but what had it meant? She sighed audiably and leaned forward again. She messaged her legs, and continued to watch the sun rise.

"The sunrise is pretty, ain't it?" Came a rough voice. Ino jumped to her feet and began to turn around, but then everything went black.

* * *

Kiba woke up with a stretch and looked down beside him. He was surprised to see only the bed, there was no sign that Ino had even been there. If she hadn't came in the past two nights before, he wouldn't have even believed that she had been there last night. Kiba took a deep breath. There was still a hint of Ino's flowery scent. 

Kiba rubbed his eyes and climbed out of bed. He crossed to the dresser and grabbed another days change of clothes. He quickly changed into them and laid down next to his dog who was still sleeping. Akamaru stirred and looked over at Kiba. In seconds Kiba was covered with slobbery kisses. Laughing he pushed himself back up to his feet and wiped off his face.

"Akamaru, how's it sound to go on a walk with Ino before we take Odori to the competition?" Kiba asked. Akamaru barked happily and wagged his tail. "Sorry, Akamaru, not our kind of walk." Akamaru's tail drooped and the dog whined. "Ah, com' on, Akamaru. We can take one of our walks later," Kiba said. Akamaru barked some more and Kiba shook his head. "I am not turning into a mushy sap!" Kiba snapped at his dog. Akamaru barked, and seemed to be laughing.

Kiba walked across the hall and knocked on the door. He waited for a few moments and when there was no reply, he knocked again. "Oi! Ino-chan! Are you in there?" He called. When there was still no answer, Kiba tried the door. The door was unlocked and he swung it open with ease. He looked in the room and saw that the blonde Kunoichi was not in there.

With a puzzled look Kiba walked back into the hallway. "Akamaru!" He called, and the dog came out of the room. "Can you find Ino's latest trail?" He asked the nindog. He trusted Akamaru's nose above his own and followed his nindog down the hallway and out the back of the building. Kiba walked down the path and saw Ino's shoes sitting on the grassy hill.

He took a deep breath, gathering chakra at his nose, and took in the scents that lingered in the air. He could pick up Ino's flowery smell, but also the smell of an unknown male. He also caught the scent of fear. His heart began to race. Ino was in trouble! Kiba quickly ran back into the building and all but pounded on Odori's door.

The door opened and a sleepy Odori looked out around the door. "Odori, I need you to tell me all you know about the family that might be plotting to kill you," Kiba said. Odori's eyes widened and after a few minutes she nodded. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into her room. Kiba looked around her room, pink was everywhere. Ribbons and frills were covering the walls. Kiba turned his attention back to Odori who was scribbling furiously on her little notepad.

After a few moments she handed him the notepad and Kiba read it. Kiba nodded. "Ok, from reading this, we need to hurry. We need to save Ino, but still get you to the competition on time. That's what they are trying to do, cause you to miss the competition." He paused for a few minutes, thinking, before starting up again. "Ok, here's the plan," Kiba said, giving Odori the outline of the quick plan that had just popped into his hand.

This was all new to him, usually Shino was the one to come up with plans, but right now, it was up to him. Finally it was his chance to prove himself as a leader.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Yay! I love this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to ForgottenLovedOne because Kiba rocks and she seems to agree with me!**

* * *

Blue eyes shot open in the darkness of a poorly lit room. They shot around, and stopped when she remembered what happened. Ino had been watching the sunrise, reflecting on a nightmare, when a guys voice rang out behind her. When she jumped up and went to turn around, everything had gone dark. Someone had attacked her, and brought her here. Where ever here was. 

Ino looked around the room. The floor was cold and concrete, the door was on the opposite side of the room, and was a heavy wood. There was a heavy wooden table on her right, and there was many kunai setting on it, along with tools. She looked to her left, and there was a chair and a fire place. In front of the fire place were many tools that you would find in a blacksmith's workplace.

A blacksmith's workplace? Is that where she was? Ino looked down, just now realizing that she was tied with rope to a pole. Ino wondered what the pole was doing there, it didn't really seem to have any purpose in the room. Could it be that the pole was there just to tie people up to? Ino shook her head. Now that she knew where she was, she needed to figure out how to get out of here.

Ino's head snapped up when she heard the door open. The figure stepped in, but then paused. He studied Ino and a smile came to his lips. "Good, you're awake," The man said to her. Ino felt her insides freeze as she recognized the voice, he had been the one who had attacked her. A defiant look crossed her face and the man laughed. "You look cute when you make that face," The man said. The man laughed again when Ino's look of defiance changed to one of disgust. "I think I liked the other look better," The man said.

"Why did you kidnap me!?" Ino demanded, a fire burning in her eyes. The man laughed and covered the distance between them. He extended his hand and put it under her chin. He forced her head up and made her look in his eyes.

"I don't think you are in the position to be asking questions, darling" The man said. Ino glared at the man as he pulled his hand back.

"Don't call me darling," Ino said, her voice cold and full of hate. The man turned back to face Ino, and Ino noticed that his eyes were dancing.

"Why not, darling?" He asked, putting emphasis on the word darling. Ino scowled and clenched her fists. She had to get out of here, and get away from this jerk. Her thoughts flashed back to Kiba. He was probably worried about her. This caused her to become even more determined. She began working her hands, pulling them towards the front, trying not to draw any attention to them.

"Because I'm not your darling!" Ino spat at him. The man had a look of hurt on his face that was obviously fake.

"Oh, well I thought you were," The man said. "I thought you said you loved me." Ino growled.

"I never once said that! I don't even know who you are! All I know is that you kidnapped me!" She yelled. The man shook his head.

"Oi, calm down. I didn't kidnap you," The man said. Ino kept working her hands, full of anxiety, what if he saw what she was doing? She was nervous that he would notice her attempt of escape.

"What do you mean?" Ino said, cold and disbelieving.

"I didn't kidnap you," The man repeated. Ino scoffed.

"You attack me and then drag me here while I'm unconcious. Oh, and also tied me to this pole. I think that is considered kidnapping," Ino said.

"Oh, I thought that you had to demand a ransom for it to be considered kidnapping," The man said in a mock inocent voice. There was a silence between them before the man talked again. "Did you know that you don't have any pupils?" The man asked.

"Yes, you dumbass!" Ino said. The man's eyes narrowed and he looked like he was going to hit her for a moment. But his eyes returned back to normal and he laughed.

"Sorry, I was just trying to make some small talk," The man said.

"What's your name?" Ino asked suddenly.

"Mushiro, why?" The man said.

"Well, Mushiro, I think you should let me go," Ino said. Mushiro's eyes narrowed again.

"Mushiro-kun. That's what you should call me," Mushiro said, "And why should I let you go?"

"Because my teammate will kick your ass!!" Ino said. Mushiro scoffed.

"What makes you think that your teammate will even come here to try and help you?" Mushiro asked. Ino hoped that Kiba wouldn't try and help her. She hoped that he would get Odori to the competition safely. She had said that merely to make herself seem defenseless. Her hands were almost to the front.

"Odori! You think that kidnapping me will cause Odori to miss the competition!" Ino said, trying to keep his attention away from her hands that were now around the pole and almost together. She could almost pull them together.

* * *

Kiba and Odori were now walking down the trail towards the competition building. Halfway down the trail, Kiba saw the girl he had taken out to lunch the other day. But this time he knew that she was Shisshi. She waved at Kiba and Kiba smiled. 

"Oi, you're that cute shinobi who took me out to lunch the other day," Shisshi stated in a sort of greeting. Kiba nodded. "What's the matter," She asked.

"Well, my teammate is missing, and I wish I could go look for her, but I have to make sure Odori gets to the competition safely," Kiba said, gesturing towards Odori. Shisshi smiled and clapped her hands together.

"That's where I'm headed!" Shisshi said, "I could go with her!"

"I don't know. When I was sent on this mission, my hokage told me that a rich man might have hired a strong clan to kill her off. I can't let that happen," Kiba said.

"I have a guard, he could guard us both," Shisshi said. A ninja dropped out of the trees and landed beside Shisshi.

"I don't want to fail the mission though...," Kiba said. Shisshi reached out her hand and ran it down the side of his face.

"Aw, come on. I wouldn't let Odori get hurt. She's my friend after all. Plus you need to go save your teammate," Shisshi said. Kiba didn't answer for a few moments and then smiled.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," He said and leapt up in the trees. Shisshi smiled and grabbed onto Odori's arm. They began walking down the path. Kiba smiled and turned to run to the spot where Odori was hiding. Her expression seemed to be asking 'did they fall for it?' Kiba nodded. "They fell for it."

* * *

**A/N: If anyone forgot, Shisshi is the other favorite to win the competition. Her father is the one who hired the ninja to kill Odori so Shisshi could win.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. My apologies if you get confused, or if I jump around alot. It's just that there's a lot of action in this chapter, and I was really excited typing this and stuff. Anyway, I changed the guy's name from Poizun to Mushiro, simply because someone pointed it out (and I realized) how lame it was. Basically all I did was use a english to japanese translater for the names. I typed in poison (because their clan has a lot to do with poisons) and that's what it had. But anyway, I changed it to Mushiro (which means better) and his brother's name is Resu (which means less).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to my sisters, because they are like mini mes.**

* * *

Ino smiled as her hands came together. She put them in front of her face and said "Ninja art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Her head fell forward and her body went limp as Ino left her body. 

"What the he-" Was all Mushiro could say before Ino entered his body. Once inside his head, she found there was little resistance. Mushiro/Ino smiled and walked across the room. He then leaned over and began to untie Ino from the pole. Ino's smile widened, this was too easy. Then she heard a voice call out and Ino cursed herself for jinxing it.

"Mushiro?" Came a man's voice. The man rounded the corner and froze when he saw Mushiro untieing Ino. "Mushiro?" He asked again, and Ino pulled on the last knot before standing up to face this new man. Ino's eyes widened as the man's fist connected with Mushiro's face and they were both sent back flying. Quickly Ino returned to her body, and missed hitting the wall. Now back in her body Ino stood up and wiped the blood that was now coming out of the corner of her mouth.

"Heh, I knew that wasn't Mushiro!" The man said, smileing smugly.

"It still injured him," Ino said, shocked that he had freely attacked his comerade. She remembered being surprised like this during her chuunin exams, when she, Shika-kun, and Chouji had faced the sound team. The man shrugged.

"Serves him right," The man said. Ino eye's darted to the door and she counted the amount of steps it'd take her to get to the door. Nine steps.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked. The man's eyes narrowed in thought as he recalled something he found unpleasant.

"Resu, why can't you be like your brother Mushiro? Mushiro is so strong, Mushiro is so smart! Resu, you worthless little runt, train harder like your brother," The man said, quoting things someone important had said to him once. Resu was his name, noted Ino, though not sure if it was worth anything.

"Well, Resu, now you're going to be the blame for letting me escape," Ino said, crossing her arms. Under the cover of her arms, she pulled out a paper bomb, keeping her eyes on Resu. Resu's eyes narrowed again.

"What do you mea-" Resu began asking, before Ino planted the paper bomb on the pole and ran out of the room. The explosion happened seconds after she passed Resu. Ino ran out of the door, and turned around the corner. She smiled as she saw an open door leading outside and her heart leaped as she flew out the open door. But her heart fell with a crash as a hand snagged the back of her purple shirt. She was pulled backwards and then flung forwards.

Ino twisted in the air, attempting to land on her feet and roll to lessen the impact. As she turned and her face was pointed down towards the earth, Ino saw water. She landed with a slap on the water, and taken by surprise, sank below the surface. She sank for a few moments, glancing around her. How had she ended up in the water?

Making wide circles with her hands in front of her and kicking her feet, Ino broke the surface again. She called chakra to her hands, forearms, shins, and feet as she pulled herself up onto the surface. Ino looked up to see a foot swinging at her face. She grunted as she flew into the air once again.

She twisted herself again, and landed this time on her feet. Ino took in the scene around her. She was standing on the surface of a large lake, a waterfall at her back. In front of her was Resu, he had been the one who kicked her, and apparently the one who had thrown her. She looked at back at the building she had just emerged from, and Ino was surprised on how far he had thrown her.

Ino turned her attention back to Resu, who was now running at her. She fell gracefully into a battle poise and waited for Resu. When he was within range, he pulled out a blood red kunai and threw it at her. With a blast of chakra, Ino shot up in the air and dodged the kunai entirely. Resu flicked his wrist, and five more kunai shot at her. Ino twirled in the air and dodged all of them, even the one that had been close to stabbing her in the leg.

Ino was now over Resu and pulled out her own kunai. She flung them down at Resu, who had to move to dodge them. Ino landed on the water and shot back into the air. She was forced to dodge more kunai, and managed to make Resu dodge again as well. She couldn't keep this up, she would run out of kunai soon, she needed to come up with a plan.

When Ino landed, she released the chakra from her feet and fell into the water. Quickly she swam underneath Resu and grabbed onto his legs. With a hard tug she pulled the man under water. Resu's arms and legs shot out in all directions and were moving wildly, treading water and keeping Ino away. Ino dove in and grabbed the bag that all his kunai were in, and in the process got kicked and hit multiple times. As soon as she had the kunai bag, Ino turned and swam away from Resu, fast. When she was a good distance away, she dropped the bag and it drifted down to the bottom of the lake.

Ino watched it sink, and when she was satisfied, she climbed out of the water and used her chakra to stand ontop of it again. There was a burning sensation in Ino's lower chest, and she guessed that she had a broken rib. Resu was now running at her again and Ino sighed, once again returning to her battle pose.

* * *

Shisshi smiled with delight as she dragged Odori along the path. The girl was putting up a feeble attempt to escape, like she wasn't really trying, but why should she? She was as good as dead. Her 'protector' had given her up easily. Once they were far enough away from Kiba, Shisshi decided that it was time to get it over with. 

"Ok, let's do this," Shisshi said to the ninja who nodded. He smiled and popped his knuckles. Suddenly Odori got restless, she began moving around, with hyper movements. The ninja raised an eyebrow, but pulled back his fist.

"Hold her still for me," The ninja said in a rough voice. Shisshi clamped her hands down on Odori's shoulders.

"Finally, my talent will be recognized," Shisshi said, bubbling with anticipation. The ninja threw the punch, but it never connected with Odori's face. (He was going to beat her to death, cruel ain't it?) Odori wrenched free from Shisshi's grip and grabbed the her arm. With one fluid movement Shisshi was thrown into the shinobi and Odori danced out of their range.

With an angry noise, Shisshi picked herself up off the ground and glared at Odori. "GET HER!" Shisshi demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the dancer. The shinobi ran at her, but Odori ducked and tripped the ninja. He fell on his face and Odori smiled. Shisshi probably would have laughed if she hadn't been so frustrated. "You worthless shinobi! My dad said he hired the best an-" Shisshi raged at the ninja who was wiping dirt off his face.

"Shut up, will you, shut up!" The shinobi growled at her and Shisshi fell into a shocked silence. "You damn girl! I will finish my mission, my job," He said. With that he lunged at Odori again.

* * *

"Almost there!" Kiba said, who was running with Odori on his back. They were taking advantage of the distraction to get Odori to the competition on time and safely. Odori didn't reply, she couldn't, but merely squeezed Kiba's shoulder briefly in thanks. 

Kiba picked up his pace, he was anxious to set out and find Ino. He didn't like not knowing if she was ok.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry it took so long guys, I had troubles with this chapter. Plus cheerleading...and essays...and homecoming...yea. Supper busy! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I thought the ending was a nice touch.**

**Dedication: uhm...I dedicate this chapter tooooooooooooooooooooo my brother for showing me Naruto in the first place. Love ya, dude.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, cuz if I did, the fighting scenes would be horrible.**

* * *

Kiba sped through the trees with Odori on his back. A grin crossed his face as he saw the Contest Building loom up suddenly. With a few more powerful leaps, Kiba landed in front of the building. Odori hopped of his back and headed towards the door, Kiba in step right behind her. He walked her up to the door and nodded to her. 

"Good luck," Kiba said with a lopsided grin. Ordori smiled and hugged him. She then waved and disappeared behind the door. Kiba turned and left the building. As soon as he was outside of the door, he sprang up into the air and headed back to where Shisshi and her hired Ninja were at. About halfway there he heard Akamaru cry out in pain.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba called and doubled his efforts. Kiba emerged from the trees and landed on the path. Shisshi was furious, but the ninja looked triumphant. Akamaru however was stumbling to his feet. Obviously the ninja had hit him and dispelled the henge jutsu placed on the nin-dog.

Kiba growled and put his hands together in hand signs. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

* * *

"You are hidden nin from Konoha, your hokage sent you here to make sure the water festival happens," Resu said. "You know, you're not a very good Shinobi. You didn't hesitate to tell the waitor what your mission was here." Ino growled and clenched her fists. She ran at him, fist extended. Resu smiled and grabbed the her wrist. He made a quick downward motion and broke her wrist. There was a puff of smoke and a piece of water weed was revealed. 

"Don't underestimate me!" Ino called out, punching the back of his head. Resu stumbled forward and turned around. He punched her, and she flew back. Resu's chakra magnified punches were no where near as strong as Hokage-sama's. But with Ino's slight weight and his accurately placed punches were all it took to send her flying.

Ino skidded on the water and clenched her jaw to keep from calling out as pain shot through her ribs. She was breathing heavy and didn't think she would be able to stand up again. _"For this mission it would be best for you to be quiet and listen to what I say. I don't want to go around playing hero for you,"_ Ino recalled Kiba's words from the beginning of the mission. With new determination, Ino stood up.

Resu was in front of her in what seemed and instant. For long moments, Ino and Resu were locked in a close Taijutsu fight. Ino could barely dodge and deflect them. Resu was clearly more skilled in Taijutsu than her. Ino knew she needed to finish this battle soon. His strong hits were starting to take a toll on the young blonde. Ino flew back again as a punch connected with her jaw.

However, this time Ino managed to land on her feet and run straight back at Resu, a plan forming in her hand. Resu punched at her, and once again it turned out to be a replacement jutsu. He turned quickly, and in time to see the real Ino running up behind him. He punched her and she flew back again.

"Stupid girl! Using the same trick twice!" Resu taunted. "Huh?" Resu looked down, he had felt something hit his foot. He smiled as he picked up his red poisoned kunai.

Ino ran at him, Resu kicked her, before she turned into a pile of water weed. Resu turned again to see another Ino running at him, he punched this one too, but was surprised to find this one a replacement jutsu as well. He turned in time to see Ino running at him, forming a jutsu. Thinking quickly Resu threw his kunai at the Kunoichi. She ignored it as it landed in her arm, and she continued running and finished the jutsu.

Resu began to sink below the water, and he was panicked to find that he no longer controlled his body. He sank lower and lower beneath the water, all the way to the bottom. Ino struggled to hold the jutsu until she felt no resistance. With a sigh she released it and felt suddenly light headed.

"Ino! Oi! Ino-chan!" Came Kiba's voice. Ino turned around to face Kiba. Her vision alternately blurred and unblurred. Ino blinked wondering what was happening to her. Glancing down she saw the kunai sticking out of her arm, the poison was now leaking into her body. Dread clutched at Ino's heart, and she stumbled across the water.

Kiba could tell some thing was wrong, she was walking differently, unbalanced. She stepped off of the water and onto dry land, still heading in his direction. Her nightgown was sticking to her body, she was soaked from the battle. Sometime during the fight, her hair had come out of her ponytail and it was all down and was also sticking to her, in long flowing golden locks.

Ino was now standing before him, and Kiba struggled not to blush, she was so beautiful. Kiba had always noticed that she had beauty, but now as she stood before him, soaked to the bone, he noticed how beautiful and natural she was. Like a flower. Ino's eyes were unfocused, looking off into the distance.

"Shika-kun," Ino said, in a sad voice.

"Huh?" Kiba asked. Ino smiled sadly.

"Right behind you," Kiba turned around to look, but he didn't see the lazy ninja anywhere.

"Ino, I don't see him," He said turning to look back at her. He saw her face turn from sadness to distress.

"Look, there's Temari." Ino said. "She's-she's..." Ino clutched Kiba's arm and there was a panicked look on her face. "She's kissing him," She said, tears beginning to flow down her face. Kiba turned around again, and still not seeing them, turned back to face Ino, who was crying.

"Ino, Ino! No one's there!" Kiba said, grabbing Ino's shoulders and shaking her. Ino threw herself in his arms when he stopped shaking her, and Kiba's eyes widened, before his arms wrapped around her. He felt something poke him in the stomach, and he pushed her back to get a look at what was poking him. "Ino..." He said, finally seeing the kunai in her arm.

"He doesn't love me, he loves her," Ino murmered sadly. Kiba picked Ino up, holding her bridal style. He needed to get her to the hospital. She was poisoned, and obviously delierious. Ino buried her face into Kiba's chest and continued to cry.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Homecoming week is always super busy for me. This chapter kind of jumps around, but I redid this chapter 3 times, and I think this one was the best. So I stuck with it.**

**Dedication: To everybody who reviews my story. I read all of them and even though you might not know it, I listen to you guys as well. Just not all the time. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Kiba was surrounded by medic nin as soon as he entered the hospital. Ino was taken from his arms and carried off on a strecther. A female with dark black hair came up to him, her pen poised over the clipboard. She asked Kiba a series of questions. Like what happened, and so on. Several questions later the girl nodded and hurried away. 

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Kiba called after her. But she continued to hurry off and Kiba sat down with a sigh. All he could do is wait. Ino. She must be in a lot of pain right now. If he had been there sooner, maybe he could have helped her more. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed again. Akamaru licked Kiba's hands in a comforting way, and Kiba smiled weakly.

---

It was about three hours later and Kiba was almost crazy with worry. The girl with black hair approached Kiba again, an exhasted smile on her face. "Well, She's ok. We managed to isolate the poison into one spot, on her arm. We can't get rid of it, because we don't have the antidote. We were lucky that the poison had been greatly diluted by the water. If it hadn't been, we wouldn't have been able to isolate it. And she probably wouldn't have made it," The girl said. Kiba nodded.

"Can I go see her?" He asked.

"Yes, but she's still uncouncious," She said. Kiba nodded, and she lead him to the room Ino was in. Ino was no longer soaked, the bruises and scracthes were healing. "She also had a few broken bones, those weren't too hard to mend. Alright, I'll leave you alone with her," She said. Kiba nodded again and sat down next to Ino as the girl left the room.

He put his hand on hers, and was shocked at how cold her hand was. Most of her body was covered in bandages, and again Kiba wished that he had been able to come to her aid sooner.

"Ino, I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner," Kiba murmered softly.

---

Ino opened her eyes to see a bare white room. She looked around her, not knowing where she was. Using her previous knowledge and good guessing, she figured that she was in a hospital room. How had she gotten there though? She didn't even remember why she would have been there. She sat up and the room spun, making her sick to her stomach.

Looking down at her own body, she discovered that she was covered with bandages. Fear clutched her at her and she felt like she was going to throw up. Slowly she laid back down and tried to remember what had happened. All she remembered was a voice taunting her, calling her darling.

The room spun again, as Ino jerked her head up to look at the door that had just opened. In came Kiba's face. He smiled and came fully into the room, holding a medium sized bag.

"How are you?" Kiba asked, walking to her bed side with Kiba at his heels. Ino smiled weakly.

"I don't know. What happened?" Ino asked, her voice was scratchy. Kiba put a hand on hers.

"I didn't see the fight, but you got kidnapped. Somehow you escaped, but didn't quite make it. You then fought with your captor on the lake, by the waterfall. I got there after you defeated him, you were poisoned. Luckily the poison was diluted from the water, and they were able to isolate it in your arm. But when they isolated the poison, it caused you to lose your use of that hand. Also, it made it harder to heal the rest of your body," Kiba informed her. Suddenly the memories came back to Ino and she remembered everything, up until the poison started taking effect.

"I remember," Ino said. "I remember until a few minutes after I was poisoned." Ino paused and looked down at her hand that Kiba was holding. "Kiba...did you save me?" Ino asked.

"You had already defeated the man," Kiba replied.

"Resu," Ino said the man's name with hate. She shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. Did you save me, from the poison?" She asked.

"No, the medic nin did. I couldn't heal you, I'm not that good of a ninja," Kiba said trying to make Ino smile.

"But you brought me to the hospital?" Ino asked. Kiba nodded and Ino looked down, a sad expression on her face.

"What's the matter?" Kiba asked. Ino looked back at him.

"I didn't want to be a burden, but I always end up being one," Ino said, struggling to hold back the tears.

"You weren't a burden! Odori made it to the contest! She even won it!" Kiba said, refusing to allow Ino to feel like a burden. He picked up the bag and placed it on the bed, beside Ino. "The nurse said that you could leave tomarrow. The nurse made me promise to take good care of you," Kiba said, changing the topic.

"What is tomarrow?" It worked. Kiba smiled and started pulling things out of the bag.

"Tomarrow is the water festival. I brought you some stuff to keep you busy so you don't get bored," He said.

"That's thoughtful of you," Ino said. She studied Kiba with narrowed eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with Kiba?" Ino asked. Kiba laughed.

"Can't I just be nice without being accused of being someone else?" Kiba asked.

"No. You have to be an arrogant pig like you usually are," Ino said. Kiba laughed again.

"Well," He said looking at the clock, "I have to go back and get Ordori. She was trying on costumes and practicing the dance. You'd think she would need more time to learn the dance, but I guess they do the same dance each year, so basically everyone who lives here knows the dance." He patted her on the arm before leaving the hospital room.

Ino watched him leave and looked down at her hands. Her left arm was heavily banadaged and when she tested it out, she found that Kiba was right. She couldn't move her arm, except at where it joined at her shoulder. Would she be stuck like this forever? Ino rubbed her forehead with her right hand, the one she could move, and decided she would talk to Tsunade as soon as she was back in Konoha. Afterall, Tsunade was one of the best medic nin.

* * *

**A/N: Alright. If anyone is confused this is what happened. Ino was kidnapped at sunrise. She fought Resu in the morning around noon. Kiba brought her to the hospital and it was around 2-3 in the evening (because he got to see her three hours after she arrived.) when she got out of surgery. She was uncouncious until the next morning. When she woke up, Kiba just happened to be checking in on her. (he had been throughout the previous night). So that means tomarrow is the Waterfall Festival. YAY! lol. I have some big _romantic_ plans for this. And maybe some comedy. I dunno. Sometimes I try too hard to be funny.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 19! I hope ya like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Dedication: hmmm. To my bestest friends!**

* * *

Ino squinted her eyes as she left the artificial lights of the hopsital and stepped outside. The sun was far in the west, and it would set in about an hour. Kiba's hand came to rest on her arm, and he gently lead her down the path. She followed him, lost in thought and harldy seeing where they were going. 

It was strange to think that at the beginning of this mission, Ino couldn't stand Kiba. Now, she was very fond of him and she couldn't deny the feelings she had for the brown haired dog boy any more. The Waterfall Festival was where they were headed, and Ino became lost in thoughts and predictions for and of the upcoming evening.

Ino was brought out of her thoughts when they stopped and she ran into Kiba. "Woa, careful," Kiba said, a smile on his face. Ino smiled back.

"What are we doing first?" Ino asked.

"We're going to watch Odori perform in the beginning dance. Then we'll check out the stands and the other events going on. Then we'll watch the fire works, and finally Odori's ending performance," Kiba answered. Ino nodded. They walked side by side, until they reached the building the first perfomance was scheduled to take place. Kiba helped Ino sit down in the audiance and took the seat next to her. They were early and not very many people were there yet. It was about 20 minutes before the performance, but Kiba and Ino hadn't known how long it'd take to get there and Ino had wanted to get good seats.

Ino rested her head on Kiba's shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. Ino smiled, and snuggled against him. Kiba and Ino, that didn't sound so bad. Once again her thoughts wandered, thoughts of her and Kiba. Ino looked up, once again brought out of her thoughts, and saw the curtain opening. The seats around her were full of people, she hadn't noticed them until now.

Ino was surrounded in the noise of clapping and a few hoots. Looking up, she saw Odori standing on the stage, her hands extended elegantly in front of her. One foot was planted straight beneath her, while the other was gracefully pointed to the side. Music began to drift into the room and the auidance quieted and watched Odori.

Odori was a wonderful dancer. She moved with an almost unrealistic grace, every move elegant and seemingly flawless. Ino found herself wishing that she had the same kind of grace, but she and Odori were built different. Odori built for dance, and Ino built for battle. Odori was the only one on the stage, and she moved all over it. Her moves matched the music and gave it a new meaning.

Ino stood to her feet and clapped along with the rest of the auidance when Odori swept into a graceful bow. She smiled before exiting the stage. "She was wonderful!" Ino exclaimed.

"Yah, she was amazing," Kiba said. Ino's face grew sad and Kiba was puzzled. "What's with the sad face?"

"It's going to be hard to say good bye. I want to just bring her back with us," Ino said. Kiba put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure you could visit her," Kiba said, he didn't like to see her sad. She looked up at him, they were both standing.

"Really?" Ino asked. Kiba shrugged.

"Sure," He said. Ino smiled.

"I would like that," She said and Kiba nodded.

"Let's go check out the stands and the other events," Kiba said. Ino nodded and followed Kiba out of the building. They walked down the streets, colorful stands were set up all around. Everything was so busy, yummy smells drafting through the air. Little kids gathered around the game booths. Kiba grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a pen.

Inside the pen was a man dressed in strange clothes. He was going on about some sort of magic trick. Two ladies came out and laid a white sheet on the dirt ground. The man waved his hand over the cloth and took a step back. The two women lifted the blanket back up, and a flock of doves flew over the crowd. The crowd ooed and awed.

Ino and Kiba stayed and watched a few more magic tricks, and were amused at how easy it was to see through the illusions. After a while, they grew bored and ventured on. Ino's blue eyes darted around, and took in everything. They stopped by a food stand and continued walking on, eating. When it began to grow dark, Kiba lead her in a different direction.

"Let's find a good spot to watch the fireworks," Kiba said. Ino nodded and followed him. He had been so helpful and kind the entire evening. It was like he was a completly different person. Kiba helped her sit down on the grass, it was a good spot to see the fireworks.

A smile lit up Ino's face as explosions filled the sky with beautiful colors. Fireworks were something she enjoyed watching, following close behind star gazing and watching the sunset and the sunrise. She leaned against Kiba and turned her eyes to look up at him. His eyes connected with her eyes, and they locked. The ends of his mouth turned up in a smile and he leaned in close. Ino's heart beat quickened and she was sure he was going to kiss her.

At the last moment Kiba turned and looked back up at the fireworks. Ino punched Kiba hard in the arm. He turned to look at her, alarmed.

"What?!" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"That's for ruining a romantic moment!" Ino growled. Kiba stared at her for a few minutes before laughing.

"I'm sorry," He said, looking back at the sky. Ino shook her head, how dumb could he get?

"Don't be sorry, fix it!" Ino demanded.

"Why do I have to fix it?" Kiba asked.

"Well, you can't just ruin romantic moments! Specially if you're on a date!" Ino said.

"Date? Who said we're on a date?" Kiba asked. Kiba laughed as he dodged another punch from Ino. "Missed me...," He leaned in. This time he didn't look back at the sky, and pulled her close to him. "Now you got to kiss me," He said, pulling her into a kiss.


	20. Final

**A/N: Alrighty. I was going to have another chapter, but I thought that'd be the best way to end this Story. No worries! There is a sequel! Called: Hard to Let Go. Whoot Whoot! Anyway, the second story will deal around Ino, Sakura, and Rock Lee. Ino has to let go of Shikamaru. Because it's obvious that he's in love with Temari, plus she's found herself falling in love with Kiba. Sakura is having dificulties getting over Sasuke. Will she finally notice Naruto as a boyfriend? Or will she be unable to get over Sasuke? When a friend of Naruto's and Sakura's stays in Konoha for a while, will Rock Lee's obsession be directed to this new girl? Well, you'll have to read and find out. (winks) KibaxIno, NarutoxSakura, RockLeexSasame.**

**(btw, I hope you liked the first story. Now, onward! To the sequel!)**


	21. Setting the Record Straight

**A/N: Well. Instead of drawing attention to this, I was going to just reply back to the guy…girl…heshe…whatever…but I feel the need to set the record straight. I'm trying not to get crazy-mad or anything. So I'll try to address this calmly.**

**Here's the review:**

Review From: skeptical ()

i've only read til chap 2  
however, some parts of this fic are way too similar to 'ino's lament' by  
'kibacanlickme'

1. 1 tent  
2. ino late  
3. ino counts before following kiba

that's just the first 2 chaps. no fun.

**Ok.**

**1. I've watched Naruto, and on one episode (the one where they go on the mission to retrieve the tracking bug and Hinata did the whole dance thing in the water, and Naruto was with them. During the fillers.) Kiba's team sleeps in one tent. ONE TENT.**

**2. Ino was not late! She just didn't get there as soon as Kiba would have liked.**

**3. Counting to ten is a common way to calm oneself down.**

**Also, lots of literature and movies have similar things in them.**

**But if you read on, you'll find that my story is very different, and has a completely different story line.**

**You judged my story on the first two chapters, and basically accused me of copying Ino's Lament because of a few insignificant things and really had no idea what you were talking about.**

**Those are just off base assumptions. No fun.**


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